IDUf 
UBRAKi 


BOOKS  BY  ELSIE  SINGMASTER 

WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

WHEN  SARAH  WENT  TO  SCHOOL 

GETTYSBURG 

KATY  GAUMER 

EMMELINE 

THE  LONG  JOURNEY 

THE  LIFE  OF  MARTIN  LUTHER 

JOHN  BARING'S  HOUSE 

BASIL  EVERMAN 

ELLEN  LEVIS 

BENNETT  MALIN 

THE  HIDDEN  ROAD 

A  BOY  AT  GETTYSBURG 

BRED  IN  THE  BONE 

KELLER'S  ANNA  RUTH 

'SEWING  SUSIE' 

WHAT  EVERYBODY  WANTED 

VIRGINIA'S  BANDIT 

You  MAKE  YOUR  OWN  LUCK 

A  LITTLE  MONEY  AHEAD 


WHEN  SARAH  SAVED 
THE  DAY 


SARAH  DID  NOT  SPEAK,  SHE  ONLY  HID  HER  EYES   (page  126) 


WHEN   SARAH  SAVED 
THE  DAY 

BY  ELSIE  SINGMASTER 

WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS 


EDUC.- 
PSYCH. 
LIBRARY 


BOSTON   AND  NEW   YORK 

HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPACT 

@bz  Clibcr?ibc  press  Cam&ri&ge 


COPYRIGHT,  1909,  BY  ELSIE  SINGMASTER 

ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED    INCLUDING  THE  RIGHT  TO  REPRODUCE 
THIS  BOOK  OR  PARTS  THEREOF  IN  ANY  FORM 


Published  October  IQOQ 


PRINTED  IN  THE  U.S.A. 


EDUL 
UBKAHt 


TO    CAROLINE    HOOPES    SINGMASTER 


CONTENTS 

I.  UNCLE  DANIEL'S  OFFER         ....  1 

II.  THE  REBELS  TAKE  TO  ARMS       ...  24 

III.  UNCLE  DANIEL  STEALS  A  MARCH  ...  44 

IV.  THERE  is  COMPANY  TO  SUPPER  ...  62 
V.  THE  BLOW  FALLS 73 

VI.  THE  ORPHANS*  COURT        ....  97 

VII.  "AND  NOW  WE  WILL  GO  HOME"   .       .       .  116 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

SARAH  DID  NOT  SPEAK,  SHE  ONLY  HID  HER  EYES 

(Page  126)  Frontispiece 

GO  AWAY  AND  LEAVE  ME  WITH  MY  CHILDREN  20 

THE  STATION  AGENT  LOOKED  AT  THEM  CURIOUSLY      94 

UNCLE  DANIEL  SMILED  AND  DREW  OUT  TWO  SHINING 
DOLLARS  112 


WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THiE  DAT 

CHAPTER  I  -.,- A:\Ji:v 


UNCLE  DANIEL'S  OFFER 

SARAH  WENNER,  who  was  fifteen  years  old, 
but  who  did  not  look  more  than  twelve, 
hesitated  in  the  doorway  between  the  kitchen 
and  the  best  room,  a  great  tray  of  tumblers 
and  cups  in  her  hands. 

"  Those  knives  and  forks  we  keep  always 
in  here,  Aunt  Mena.  We  do  not  use  them 
for  every  day." 

Her  aunt,  Mena  Illick,  lifted  the  knives 
from  the  drawer  where  she  had  laid  them. 
One  could  see  from  her  snapping  black  eyes 
that  she  did  not  enjoy  being  directed  by 
Sarah.  But  order  was  order,  and  no  one  ever 
justly  accused  a  Pennsylvania  German  house- 
wife of  not  putting  things  where  they  be- 
longed. She  laid  the  knives  on  the  table  for 
Sarah  to  put  away.  ^7 


2        WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

The  kitchen  seemed  strangely  lonely  and 
empty  that;  evening,  in  spite  of  the  number 
of  persons  wjio  were  there. 
;{.;  Besides  .little  Sarah,  who  was  the  head  of 
the  Wenner  household,  now  that  the  father 
was  dead  and  the  oldest  son  had  gone  away, 
and  her  Aunt  Mena,  who  had  driven  thither 
for  the  funeral  that  afternoon,  there  was 
an  uncle,  Daniel  Swartz,  and  his  wife  Eliza, 
who  was  just  then  wringing  out  the  tea- 
towels  from  a  pan  of  scalding  suds,  and  the 
Swartzes'  hired  man,  Jacob  Kalb,  short  and 
stout,  with  a  smooth-shaven  face  and  tiny 
black  eyes. 

Daniel  Swartz  sat  beside  the  wide  table, 
the  hired  man  by  his  side.  On  chairs  against 
the  wall,  sitting  now  upright,  now  leaning 
against  each  other  when  sleep  overpowered 
them,  were  the  Wenner  twins,  Louisa  Ellen 
and  Ellen  Louisa,  whose  combination  of  ex- 
cessive slenderness  and  appearance  of  good 
health  could  be  due  only  to  constant  activ- 
ity. In  their  waking  moments  they  looked 


UNCLE  DANIEL'S  OFFER  3 

not  unlike  eager  little  grasshoppers,  ready 
for  a  spring. 

The  last  member  of  the  party  lay  peace- 
fully sleeping  on  the  deep  settle  before  the 
fireplace.  His  wide  blue  eyes  were  closed, 
his  chubby  arms  thrown  above  his  head. 
Worn  with  the  excitement  of  the  day,  too 
young  to  realize  that  the  cheerful,  merry 
father  whom  they  had  carried  away  that  af- 
ternoon would  never  return,  he  slept  on,  the 
only  one  entirely  at  ease. 

Daniel  Swartz  rose  every  few  minutes  to 
cover  him  more  thoroughly.  Aunt  'Liza  ana 
Aunt  Mena  watched  Uncle  Daniel,  the  eyes 
of  the  twins  rested  with  scornful  disfavor 
upon  Jacob  Kalb,  and  Sarah  watched  them 
all.  Her  tired  eyes  widened  with  apprehen- 
sion when  she  saw  her  uncle  bend  over  Al- 
bert as  if  he  were  his  own,  and  she  bit  her 
lips  when  she  saw  Aunt  'Liza  and  Aunt 
Mena  whispering  together.  Returning  with 
the  empty  tray,  she  moved  swiftly  across  the 
kitchen  to  where  the  twins  were  sitting. 


4   WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

At  that  moment  they  were  awake  and  en- 
gaged in  their  favorite  pastime  of  teasing 
Jacob  Kalb. 

Jacob  had  an  intense  desire  to  be  consid- 
ered English,  and  in  an  unfortunate  moment 
had  translated  his  name,  not  realizing  how 
much  worse  its  English  equivalent,  "  Calf," 
would  sound  to  English  ears  than  the  un- 
comprehended  German  "  Kalb/'  It  was  the 
twins'  older  brother,  William,  who  had  now 
been  away  from  home  so  long  that  they 
had  almost  forgotten  him,  who  had  heard 
Jacob  telling  his  new  name  to  some  stran- 
gers. 

"  Ach,  no,  I  cannot  speak  German  very 
good.  I  am  not  German.  My  name  is  Jacob 
Calf." 

He  saw  in  their  faces  that  he  had  made  a 
mistake,  but  it  was  too  late  to  retract.  Be- 
sides, William  Wenner,  whom  he  hated,  and 
who  had  been  to  the  Normal  School,  had 
heard,  and  as  long  as  Jacob  lived  the  name 
would  cling  to  him.  Ellen  Louisa  and  Louisa 


UNCLE   DANIEL'S  OFFER  5 

Ellen,  accustomed  to  shout  it  at  him  from 
a  safe  vantage  -  ground  on  their  own  side 
of  the  fence,  called  it  softly  now  when  the 
older  people  were  talking,  "Jacob  Calf! 
Jacob  Calf!" 

Then,  suddenly,  each  twin  found  her  arm 
clutched  as  though  in  a  vise. 

"  Ellen  Louisa  and  Louisa  Ellen,  be  still. 
Not  a  word !  Not  a  word !  " 

"  But  —  "  began  the  twins  together.  Sa- 
rah had  always  aided  and  abetted  them.  It 
was  Sarah  who  had  invented  such  brilliant 
rhymes  as, 

Jacob  Calf, 

You  make  me  laugh. 

Sarah's  nonsense  had  amused  the  father  and 
delighted  the  children  for  many  weary  months. 
Why  had  she  suddenly  become  so  strange 
and  solemn  ?  To  the  twins  death  had  as  yet 
no  very  terrible  meaning,  and  they  knew 
nothing  of  care  and  responsibility.  Each 
jerked  her  arm  irritably  away  from  Sarah's 
hand.  Why  didn't  she  tell  the  aunts  and 


6       WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

uncle  to  go  home  and  let  them  go  to  bed  ? 
And  why  was  Jacob  Kalb  there  in  the 
kitchen  ?  Why  —  But  the  twins  were  too 
drowsy  to  worry  very  long.  Leaning  com- 
fortably against  each  other,  they  fell  asleep 
once  more. 

Sarah  continued  her  journey  across  the 
room  to  gather  up  a  pile  of  plates.  She  sym- 
pathized thoroughly  with  the  twins  in  their 
hatred  for  the  hired  man.  He  had  no  busi- 
ness there.  If  the  uncle  and  aunts  wished 
to  discuss  their  plans,  they  should  do  it 
alone,  and  not  in  the  presence  of  this 
outsider.  But  he  knew  all  Uncle  Daniel's 
affairs,  and  was  now  too  important  a  person 
to  be  teased. 

Sarah  put  the  plates  into  the  corner-cup- 
board, arranging  them  in  their  accustomed 
places  along  the  back.  She  had  seen  Aunt 
Eliza's  and  Aunt  Mena's  eyes  glitter  as  they 
washed  them. 

"It  ain't  one  of  them  even  a  little  bit 
cracked,"  said  Aunt  'Liza.  "They  should 


UNCLE  DANIEL'S   OFFER  7 

have  gone  all  along  to  pop  and  not  to  Ellie 
Wenner." 

"  And  the  homespun  shall  come  to  me," 
said  Aunt  Mena. 

Sarah  had  been  ready  with  a  sharp  reply, 
but  had  checked  it  on  her  lips.  "Pop"  and 
Aunt  Mena,  indeed !  She  thought  of  their 
well-stocked  houses.  Her  mother  had  had 
few  enough  of  the  family  treasures. 

She  stopped  for  a  moment  to  wipe  her 
eyes  before  she  went  back  to  the  kitchen, 
standing  by  the  window  and  looking  out 
over  the  dark  fields.  There  was  no  lingering 
sunset  glow  to  brighten  the  sky,  but  Sarah's 
eyes  seemed  to  pierce  the  gloom,  as  though 
she  would  follow  the  sun  to  that  distant  coun- 
try where  her  brother  had  vanished. 

Two  hundred  years  before,  their  ancestors 
had  come  from  the  Fatherland,  and  ever 
since,  adventurous  souls  had  insisted  upon 
leaving  this  safe  haven  to  penetrate  still 
farther  into  the  enchanted  West.  Whole 
families  had  gone ;  in  Ohio  were  towns  and 


8   WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

counties  whose  people  bore  the  familiar  Penn- 
sylvania German  names,  Yeager,  Miller, 
Wagner,  Swartz,  Schwenk,  Gaumer.  Dozens 
of  young  men  had  gone  to  California  in  '49. 
Some  had  returned,  some  were  never  heard 
of  again.  Fifty  years  later,  the  rumor  of  gold 
drew  young  men  away  once  more,  this  time 
into  the  bitter  cold  of  the  far  Northwest. 

William's  indulgent  father  had  let  him 
go  almost  without  a  word  of  objection. 
He  knew  what  wanderlust  was.  And  for 
some  reason  William  had  seemed  suddenly 
to  become  unhappy.  The  farm  was  small, 
too  small  to  support  them  all;  there  were 
four  younger  children,  and  William,  to  his 
father's  and  mother's  secret  delight,  had  de- 
clined his  Uncle  Daniel's  offer  of  adoption. 
They  had  let  him  take  his  choice  between 
the  straitened,  simple  life  at  home  and  the 
prospect  of  ease  and  wealth  at  Uncle  Daniel's. 

Uncle  Daniel  had  never  forgiven  them  or 
him.  William's  success  at  the  Normal  School, 
where,  with  great  sacrifice,  he  was  sent, 


UNCLE  DANIEL'S   OFFER  9 

irritated  him ;  William's  election  as  a  town- 
ship school  director  made  him  furious. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  Daniel  Swartz  and 
Jacob  Kalb  were  the  only  persons  in  Upper 
Shamrock  township  who  did  not  like  Wil- 
liam. Even  Miss  Miflin,  the  pretty  school- 
teacher, went  riding  with  him  in  his  buggy, 
and  all  the  farmers  and  the  farmers'  wives 
were  fond  of  him. 

"  His  learning  does  n't  spoil  him,"  said 
Mrs.  Ebert,  who  lived  on  the  next  farm.  "  He 
is  just  so  nice  and  common  as  when  he  went 
away." 

And  then  he  had  gone  away  again,  not  to 
the  Normal  School,  but  to  Alaska.  Sarah 
remembered  dimly  how  he  and  his  father 
had  pored  over  the  old  atlas  after  the  twins 
had  been  put,  protesting,  to  bed,  and  the 
mother  had  sat  with  Albert  in  her  arms,  and, 
when  the  men  were  not  watching  her,  with 
a  sad,  frightened  look  in  her  eyes.  Sarah 
could  understand  both  her  brother's  eager- 
ness and  her  mother's  sadness.  Little  did  any 


10  WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

of  them  foresee  what  the  next  few  years  were 
to  bring.  The  little  mother  went  first,  with 
messages  for  William  on  her  last  breath,  and 
now  the  dear,  cheerful  father.  Surely,  if 
William  could  have  guessed,  he  would  never 
have  gone  so  far  away. 

But  for  two  years  they  had  had  no  word. 
At  first  there  had  been  frequent  letters. 
When  he  reached  Seattle,  it  had  been  too  late 
for  him  to  go  north,  and  he  waited  for  spring. 
Then  it  was  difficult  to  get  passage,  and  there 
was  another  delay.  After  that  the  letters 
grew  fewer  and  fewer,  and  finally  ceased. 

Meanwhile,  a  strange  shadow  had  crept 
over  William's  name  and  William's  memory. 
Pretty  Miss  Miflin  asked  no  more  about  him, 
Uncle  Daniel  came  and  spoke  sharply  to 
Sarah's  father  and  mother;  and  then  they 
talked  about  him  in  whispers  when  they 
thought  Sarah  did  not  hear.  Once  she  caught 
an  unguarded  sentence  :  — 

"I  have  written  again.  If  he  does  not 
answer,  he  is  dishonest  or  —  " 


UNCLE   DANIEL'S  OFFER  11 

"No  I"  her  mother  had  answered  sharply. 
"  No !  William  will  come  home,  and  then 
he  will  tell  us  !  " 

But  William  had  neither  come  nor  written. 
So  far  as  they  knew  he  had  not  heard  of  his 
mother's  death,  and  there  was  no  telling 
whether  the  announcement  of  his  father's 
death  would  reach  him.  Perhaps  he,  too, 
might  be  — 

But  that  thought  Sarah  would  not  admit 
for  the  fragment  of  a  second  to  her  bur- 
dened mind.  She  wiped  away  her  tears  once 
more,  and  then  she  almost  succeeded  in  smil- 
ing. The  black  clouds  in  the  west  were  part- 
ing. Here  and  there  a  star  peeped  through. 
She  knew  a  few  of  them  by  name.  There 
was  Venus, — Sarah,  whose  English  was  none 
of  the  best,  would  have  called  it  "Wenus," 
—  her  father  had  loved  it.  Often  he  had 
watched  it  from  this  window.  Perhaps  Wil- 
liam saw  it,  too,  in  that  mysterious  night  in 
which  he  lived.  Ah,  what  tales  there  would 
be  to  tell  when  William  came  home ! 


12      WHEN   SARAH   SAVED  THE  DAY 

Her  father's  death  had  meant  the  giving 
up  of  all  Sarah's  dreams  and  hopes.  Three 
years  before,  they  had  driven  one  day  to 
a  neighboring  town.  Drives  were  not  fre- 
quent in  that  busy  household.  Sarah  re- 
membered yet  how  fine  Dan  and  Bill  had 
looked  in  their  newly  blackened  harness,  and 
how  proud  she  had  felt,  sitting  with  her 
father  on  the  front  seat. 

They  had  seen  many  wonderful  things :  a 
paint-mill,  a  low,  long  building,  covered,  in- 
side and  out,  with  thick  layers  of  red  pow- 
der ;  and  the  ore  mines,  great  holes  in  the 
yellow  soil,  where  the  ore  needed  only  to  be 
dug  out  from  the  surface;  and  they  had 
stopped  to  watch  a  cast  at  a  blast-furnace. 
But  most  wonderful  of  all  was  the  "  Nor- 
mal." Sarah  had  seen  the  slender  tower  of 
the  main  building  against  the  sky. 

"  What  is  then  that  ?  "  she  had  asked. 

"  That  is  the  Normal,  where  William  went 
to  school. " 

"  Ach,  yes,  of  course ! "  cried  Sarah. 


UNCLE  DANIEL'S   OFFER  13 

All  the  delightful  things  in  the  world 
were  connected  with  William.  Her  father 
looked  down  at  the  sparkling  eyes  in  the 
eager  little  face.  He  had  had  little  educa- 
tion himself,  but  he  knew  its  value. 

"  Would  you  like,  then,  to  come  here  to 
school?" 

Sarah's  face  grew  a  deep  crimson.  She 
looked  at  the  trees,  the  wide  lawns,  the 
young  people  at  play  in  the  tennis-courts. 

"I?    To  school?  Here?" 

"  Of  course.  Would  n't  you  like  to  be  such 
a  teacher  like  Miss  Miflin  ?  " 

Sarah's  face  grew  almost  white.  It  was  as 
though  he  had  said,  "  Would  you  like  to  be 
President  of  the  United  States?" 

"  //  Like  Miss  Miflin !  Ach,  pop,  do  you 
surely  mean  it?  But  I  am  too  dumb." 

Her  father  laughed. 

"No, you  are  not  dumb.  If  you  are  good, 
and  if  you  study,  you  dare  come  here." 

Ah,  but  how  could  one  study  with  a  sick 
mother,  and  then  a  sick  father  and  a  baby 


14   WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

to  look  after,  and  twins  like  Ellen  Louisa 
and  Louisa  Ellen  to  bring  up,  and  — 

Sarah  went  slowly  back  to  the  kitchen.  It 
was  like  going  into  church,  all  was  so  still 
and  solemn.  Albert  and  the  twins  slept, 
Aunt  'Liza  and  Aunt  Mena  had  taken  their 
places  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  table  from 
Uncle  Daniel  and  Jacob  Kalb. 

"  Come,  come,"  cried  Uncle  Daniel  im- 
patiently. He  did  not  like  black-eyed  little 
Sarah.  She  looked  too  much  like  her  father, 
whom  his  sister  had  married  against  his  will. 
"  We  must  get  this  fixed  up.  Sit  down, 


once." 


Sarah  sat  down  on  the  nearest  seat,  which 
was  the  lower  end  of  the  settle  on  which 
Albert  lay.  She  wiped  her  hot  face  on  her 
gingham  apron,  then  laid  her  hand  on  Al- 
bert's stubby  little  shoes,  as  though  she 
needed  something  to  hold  to. 

"  Don't,"  commanded  Uncle  Daniel. 
"  You  wake  him  up  if  you  don't  look  a  little 
out." 


UNCLE   DANIEL'S  OFFER  15 

Sarah's  eyes  flashed.  As  though  she 
would  wake  him,  her  own  baby,  whom  she 
had  tended  for  three  years  !  She  wanted  to 
tell  them  to  go,  to  leave  her  alone  with  her 
children.  But  again  she  was  wisely  silent. 
She  did  not  know  yet  what  it  was  that  her 
uncle  meant  to  "  fix  up." 

Swartz  pulled  his  chair  a  little  closer  to 
the  table.  He  looked  uncomfortable  in  his 
black  suit  and  his  stiff  collar.  Occasionally 
he  slipped  his  finger  behind  it  and  pulled  it 
away  from  his  throat,  as  though  it  were  too 
tight.  It  seemed  as  if  his  remarks  were  for 
the  benefit  of  Sarah  alone,  even  though  he 
did  not  look  at  her,  for  Aunt  Mena  and 
Aunt  'Liza  and  the  hired  man  helped  him 
out  with  an  occasional  word  as  if  they  knew 
beforehand  what  he  meant  to  say. 

He,  too,  had  his  dreams.  One  was  to  see 
a  son  in  his  house ;  another  was  to  see  the 
Wenner  farm  once  more  united  to  his  own 
as  it  had  been  in  his  father's  lifetime.  Then 
he  would  have  the  old  border  on  the  creek. 


16   WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

There  was  also  talk  of  the  strange,  new 
"electricity  cars"  running  along  the  creek. 
That  would  double  the  value  of  the  farm. 

But  he  said  nothing  of  this  in  his  speech 
to  Sarah. 

"A  couple  of  years  back/'  he  began,  "I 
made  an  offer  to  Wenner.  I  said  to  him, 
'  I  will  take  William  and  bring  him  up  right, 
and  then  he  can  have  the  farm  when  I  am 
no  longer  here.'  That  is  what  I  said  to  your 
pop.  But  he  would  n't  have  it.  He  had  to 
send  William  instead  to  school." 

"  Then  what  did  he  get  for  his  school- 
ing ?  "  asked  Jacob  Kalb. 

"  I  never  had  no  schooling,"  said  Uncle 
Daniel.  "  And  you  see  where  I  am.  Nobody 
needs  schooling  but  preachers  and  teachers." 

"  I  don't  believe  in  schooling,"  said  Aunt 
Eliza. 

"  Nor  I,"  said  Aunt  Mena. 

Sarah's  eyes  continued  to  flash,  but  she 
said  nothing.  She  knew  that  they  were  ex- 
pressing their  scorn  for  her  father's  judg- 


UNCLE  DANIEL'S  OFFER  IT 

merit,  but  she  was  too  tired  to  answer.  If 
they  would  only  go  home !  She  saw  her 
uncle  look  at  little  Albert.  He  need  not 
think  she  would  give  him  up.  Sarah  almost 
laughed  at  the  idea.  Then  she  heard  that 
her  uncle  had  begun  to  speak  again. 

"  Well,  now  I  have  another  offer  to  make. 
Mena  will  take  Ellie  and  Weezy.  I  will  take 
Albert.  He  shall  be  Albert  Swartz  from  now 
on.  And  Sarah  can  come  also  to  us  to  help 
to  work." 

"  You  will  have  to  be  a  good  little  girl 
and  work  right,"  admonished  Aunt  'Liza. 

"  And  you  will  have  a  good  home,"  put  in 
Jacob  Kalb.  "  You  and  the  zwillings  (twins)." 
There  were  times  when  Jacob's  English  vo- 
cabulary was  not  equal  to  the  demands  upon  it. 

Sarah's  pale  cheeks  grew  a  little  whiter. 
But  Uncle  Daniel  had  said  it  was  an  offer. 
An  offer  could  be  declined. 

"  But  we  are  all  going  to  stay  here  to- 
gether like  always,"  she  said.  "  I  and  Albert 
and  the  twins." 


18  WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

She  saw  their  anger  in  their  faces. 

«  What !  "  said  Aunt  Eliza. 

"  Such  dumb  talk ! "  cried  Uncle  Daniel 

"  Are  you  then  out  of  your  mind  ? " 
asked  Aunt  Mena. 

Jacob  Kalb  alone  said  nothing.  But  Sarah 
saw  him  smile.  He  planned  to  live  in  the 
Wenner  farmhouse. 

"  Will  you  plough  ?  "  demanded  Uncle 
Daniel. 

"Or  plant  the  seeds?  "  asked  Aunt  'Liza. 

"  Or  harvest  ?  "  said  Aunt  Mena. 

Sarah  spoke  quietly.  "  I  have  it  all 
planned.  Ebert  will  farm  like  always  for  the 
half." 

"The  half!"  repeated  Uncle  Daniel. 
"  Should  we  then  give  this  good  money  to 
Ebert  ?  The  half  !  I  will  farm." 

"  Well,  then/'  said  Sarah.  "  But  you 
must  pay  the  half  to  us  because  we  must 
live." 

"  Pay  the  half  to  you !  "  exclaimed  Aunt 
Mena. 


UNCLE  DANIEL'S  OFFER  19 

"  It  is  our  farm,"  replied  Sarah.  "  It  was 
my  mom's  and  my  pop's  farm.  It  isn't  yours. " 

"  Well,  it  will  be  mine,"  said  Uncle  Daniel 
"  What  would  such  children  make  with  such 
a  farm?" 

"I  am  not  a  child,"  answered  Sarah  firmly. 
"For  three  years  already  I  managed  the 
farm  while  my  pop  was  sick.  And  it  is  Wil- 
liam's farm  so  much  as  ours.  And  when 
William  comes  home  —  " 

"  William  will  never  come  home,"  said 
Uncle  Daniel. 

Sarah  got  up  from  the  old  settle. 

"  William  will  come  home  !  "  she  cried. 
"  It  don't  make  nothing  out  if  you  do  give  us 
homes.  If  you  take  the  farm,  it  will  be  steal- 
ing." 

"Ei  yi  !  "  reproved  Aunt  Mena  shortly. 
"  That  is  no  word  for  little  girls !  " 

"  A  whipping  would  be  good  for  her,"  of- 
fered Jacob  Kalb. 

"  You  have  n't  any  right  here,  Jacob 
C-calf,"  cried  Sarah. 


20   WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

Jacob's  little  eyes  narrowed.  "It  is  no 
way  for  little  girls  to  talk  when  their  bro- 
thers steal  school-board  money,  and  go  off 
and  their  pops  have  to  pay  it,"  he  said. 

For  a  moment  there  was  silence,  then  a 
reproving  murmur  from  Aunt  Mena. 

"  It  is  n't  true  ! "  cried  Sarah.  "  It  is  n't 
true ! "  Suddenly  she  remembered  her  father's 
sadness,  her  mother's  tears. 

She  burst  into  wild  crying.  "  Ach,  I  wish 
you  would  go  away  and  leave  me  with  my 
children  !  I  will  get  good  along,  if  you  will 
only  let  me  be.  Albert  should  be  this  long 
time  in  his  bed.  I  wish  you  would  go  home." 

She  bent  to  lift  the  sleeping  child.  But 
her  uncle  pushed  her  aside. 

"Albert  is  coming  home  with  me,"  he 
said,  as  he  lifted  him  up.  "Jacob,  put 
"Weezy  and  Ellie  in  the  carriage  with  Aunt 
Mena." 

Sarah  tried  to  keep  her  hold  of  the  little 
boy.  But  she  struggled  in  vain.  Jacob  Kalb 
picked  up  one  of  the  twins. 


UNCLE   DANIEL'S   OFFER  21 

"Ellen  Louisa!"  called  Sarah. 

Ellen  Louisa  struggled  into  wakef  ulness. 

"  Let  me  down,  Jacob  Calf;  let  me  down  !  " 
She  began  to  cry.  "  Ja-cob  Calf,  you 
m-make  m-me  1-laugh  ;  let  me  down  !" 

But  Ellen  Louisa  was  borne  shrieking 
from  the  room. 

"  Louisa  Ellen  I"  called  Sarah. 

But  Louisa  Ellen  found  herself  closely  held 
by  Aunt  'Liza  and  Aunt  Mena,  and  she,  too, 
was  led  forth. 

"  You  are  thieves  !  "  cried  Sarah  wildly. 

"  Be  still,"  commanded  Uncle  Daniel. 
"  Will  you  wake  him  up  ?  " 

Then  he,  too,  went  toward  the  door.  Aunt 
'Liza  put  in  her  round  face.  They  did  not 
mean  to  be  cruel.  But  little  Sarah  must  be 
taught  to  know  her  place. 

"  Come,  Sarah." 

"  I  am  going  to  stay  here,"  said  Sarah. 
She  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  room,  a  wild, 
pathetic  little  figure. 

"Come  on,"  commanded  Uncle  Daniel. 


22      WHEN  SARAH   SAVED  THE   DAY 

"  I  am  going  to  stay  here/'  said  Sarah. 

At  that  moment  Jacob  Kalb  returned 
The  poor  twins  had,  despite  their  rage,  fallen 
immediately  asleep  in  Aunt  Mena's  carriage. 

"  Let  her  stay/'  he  advised.  "She  will  get 
pretty  soon  tired  of  it  when  she  is  afraid  in 
the  middle  of  the  night." 

"Ach,  no!"  cried  Aunt  Eliza.  "She 
can't  stay  here." 

But  Uncle  Daniel  decided  to  take  Jacob's 
advice. 

"  Come  on,  'Lizie,"  he  said. 

For  a  moment  after  they  had  gone,  Sarah 
stared  about  her.  Afraid !  Here  in  her  own 
house  with  all  the  dear,  familiar  things  of 
every  day!  There  was  nothing  to  be  afraid 
of.  She  stood  with  blinking  eyes,  trying  to 
remember  what  they  had  said  about  Wil- 
liam ;  but  her  mind  was  a  blank.  She  knew 
only  one  thing,  —  if  she  did  not  go  upstairs, 
she  should  fall  asleep  where  she  stood. 

She  barred  the  doors  and  was  about  to 
put  out  the  light,  when  she  saw,  above 


UNCLE  DANIEL'S  OFFER  23 

the  mantel-shelf,  the  one  firearm  which 
the  Wenners  possessed,  —  an  old  shot-gun, 
which  William  had  broken  years  ago,  shoot- 
ing crowSo  Still  half  asleep,  she  lifted  it 
down,  and  put  out  the  light.  Then,  drag- 
ging it  by  the  muzzle  in  a  position  which 
would  have  been  extremely  dangerous  had 
the  poor  old  thing  been  loaded  or  capable 
of  shooting,  she  took  her  candle  and  weut 
upstairs. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE   BEBELS    TAKE    TO    ARMS 

WHEN  Sarah  woke  at  six  o'clock  the  next 
morning,  the  faint  gray  of  the  winter  sun- 
rise was  in  the  sky.  She  opened  her  eyes 
drowsily,  trying  to  account  for  the  heavy 
depression  which  seemed  to  weigh  her  down. 
Then,  when  her  outstretched  arms  found  no 
sturdy  little  figure  beside  her,  and  a  glance 
across  the  room  showed  the  smooth,  un- 
opened trundle-bed,  she  remembered  sud- 
denly all  that  had  happened  on  that  sad 
yesterday.  Her  father  was  gone,  and  Albert 
and  the  twins,  and  there  was  no  telling  how 
long  she  would  be  allowed  to  stay  in  the 
farmhouse.  She  realized  how  impossible  it 
would  be  for  a  little  girl  —  in  the  gray  dawn 
Sarah  felt  very  small  and  young  —  to  hold 
out  long  against  so  determined  a  man  as 


THE  REBELS  TAKE  TO  ARMS   25 

Daniel  Swartz.  She  turned  her  face  deeper 
into  the  pillow. 

Then,  suddenly,  a  soft  sound  recalled  her 
to  herself.  It  was  the  whinnying  of  Dan 
and  Bill,  calling  for  their  breakfast,  already 
long  overdue.  And  the  cows  must  be  fed 
and  milked,  and  the  chickens  must  have 
their  warm  mash.  Sarah  was  upon  her  feet 
in  an  instant.  She  was  not  quite  alone  so 
long  as  these  helpless  creatures  depended 
upon  her. 

An  hour  later,  she  drove  out  of  the  yard 
on  her  way  to  the  creamery.  With  activity, 
ambition  had  returned;  she  began  even  to 
hope  that  her  uncle  might  be  persuaded  to 
let  her  stay.  The  sun  had  risen  cleax  and 
bright,  and  all  the  cheerfulness  of  Sar&Vs 
disposition  responded  to  it. 

She  wondered,  as   she  drove   along  i-h^ 
frozen  roads,  whether  it  would  not  be  pos 
sible  to  add  a  third  cow  to  her  dairy.  And 
she  could  keep  more  chickens.  Her  father 
had  taught  her  how  to  look  after  them,  — 


26   WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

their  hens  always  laid  better  than  Aunt 
Eliza's.  And  if  the  chickens  did  well,  and  if 
Ebert  would  put  out  the  crops  for  her,  — 
poor  Sarah  meant  to  go  ahead  just  as  though 
her  uncle  had  not  said  that  he  would  farm,  — 
and  if  the  children  were  allowed  to  come 
back,  and  then  if  William  came  home  —  She 
knew  in  the  bottom  of  her  heart  that  they 
were  air  castles,  but  she  found  them  pleasant 
abiding-places. 

The  men,  waiting  in  line  at  the  creamery, 
called  to  her  kindly,  all  but  Jacob  Kalb, 
whose  wagon  was  third  from  the  delivery 
door. 

Henry  Ebert  was  at  that  moment  chirrup- 
ing to  his  horse  to  move  into  place  before 
the  platform. 

"  Sarah  ! "  he  called.  "  Wait  once.  I  move  a 
little  piece  back,  and  you  can  come  in  first." 

Jacob  Kalb  approved  of  no  such  chival- 
rous impulses. 

"  Those  that  come  first  should  have  first 
place,"  he  growled.  "  I  can't  wait  all  day." 


THE   REBELS  TAKE  TO  ARMS        27 

But  the  men  only  laughed.  None  of  them 
liked  Jacob  Kalb. 

Sarah  swung  Dan  into  line  before  the  door. 
A  week  before,  she  would  have  called  out,  — 
"  Jacob  Calf, 
He  likes  to  Uaff? 

"  blaff "  being  the  Pennsylvania  German 
word  for  bark,  but  now  she  sternly  checked 
her  poetic  fancies.  Sarah  had  made  up  her 
mind  to  be  very  wise  and  politic.  But  she 
could  not  repress  a  smile  of  satisfaction  over 
her  brilliant  combination  of  Pennsylvania 
German  and  English. 

Jacob  saw  the  smile  and  watched  her, 
scowling.  It  irritated  him  to  see  her  there, 
businesslike  and  cheerful,  and  it  did  not 
give  him  any  pleasure  to  hear  a  neighbor 
call  to  her  that  he  would  stop  for  her  milk- 
can  the  next  morning.  Sarah  shouted  back 
her  thanks. 

Ebert  consented  willingly  to  put  out  the 
crops.  He  had  a  great  admiration  for  smart 
little  Sarah. 


28      WHEN   SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

"  Next  week  I  begin  to  plough,"  he  pro* 
mised. 

Then  Sarah  slapped  the  reins  on  Dan's 
back  and  was  off.  There  was  plenty  to  do  at 
home  :  the  house  to  put  in  order,  several 
hens  to  set,  and  some  baking  to  be  done.  As 
she  drew  near  the  farm,  she  became  appre* 
hensive.  Suppose  her  Uncle  Daniel  should 
have  taken  possession  while  she  was  away! 
She  had  locked  the  door,  but  the  fastenings 
of  the  windows  were  not  very  secure.  And 
to  whom,  in  such  a  case,  should  she  go? 
Not  to  any  of  the  farmers  round  about: 
they  were  poor  and  had  many  children. 

She  could  not  take  Uncle  Daniel's  charity, 

—  she  knew  that,  no  matter  how  hard  she 
worked,  he  would  still  consider  it  charity, 

—  and  she  could  not  live  with  Aunt  Mena, 
who  had  the  twins.  She  thought  vaguely  of 
going  with  her  trouble  to  Miss  Miflin.  But 
Miss  Miflin  had  no  home. 

There  was  no  sign  of  any  alien  pres- 
ence as  she  drove  up  the  lane.  The  cat  sat 


THE  REBELS  TAKE  TO  ARMS    29 

comfortably  on  the  doorstep,  a  sure  sign 
that  there  were  no  strangers  about.  Sarah 
stopped  thankfully  to  pat  him  before  she 
fitted  the  key  into  the  lock. 

"  You  poor  Tommy,  where  would  you  go 
if  Sarah  went  away  ?  " 

Still  talking  to  the  cat,  she  pushed  open  the 
door.  Then  she  stood  still,  as  though  she 
were  turned  to  stone. 

Within,  all  was  confusion.  She  did  not 
see  that  it  was  the  sort  of  confusion  which 
could  be  created  in  a  few  minutes  and  as 
quickly  straightened  out.  Immediately  in 
front  of  the  door  the  old  settle  had  been 
turned  over  on  its  stately  back,  and  the 
chairs  were  piled  high  on  the  table  in  a  sort 
of  barricade. 

Sarah's  first  thought  was  of  thieves.  Then 
she  realized  that  she  was  looking  straight 
into  the  barrel  of  a  shot-gun. 

It  made  no  difference  that  it  was  the  same 
broken  gun  which  she  had  carried  upstairs 
with  her  the  night  before,  and  that  she 


30      WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

knew  it  would  not  shoot.  She  was  terrified 
at  first  beyond  the  power  of  speech.  She 
leaned,  weak  and  faint,  against  the  door-post, 
and  presently  demanded  who  was  there. 

Two  voices  answered  her. 

"Hands  up!" 

Then  Sarah  rushed  forward. 

"Ellen  Louisa!"  she  cried.  "Louisa 
Ellen!" 

The  twins  had  been  carried  to  Aunt 
Mena's  and  put  to  bed  without  waking. 
Then  Aunt  Mena  had  sat  down  before  the 
kitchen  fire  to  explain  to  her  husband  why 
she  had  brought  them  home. 

"  Daniel,  he  says  I  shall  take  them.  He 
takes  the  farm,  and  he  will  pay  me  each  week 
a  dollar  for  Ellie  and  Weezy.  He  has  to,  or 
I  will  not  keep  them.  And  I  get  my  share 
of  pop's  and  mom's  things  what  Ellie  had, 
too.  They  won't  do  these  children  no  good. 
But  I  will  not  manage  Ellie  and  Weezy  like 
him.  He  is  too  cross.  I  will  first  tame  them. 
But  he  is  not  cross  to  Albert.  Now  these 


THE  REBELS  TAKE  TO  ARMS    31 

twins  shall  do  for  a  few  days  what  they  want. 
They  dare  go  to  school  this  year  and  next 
yet,  then  they  must  stop." 

In  the  morning  Aunt  Mena  began  her 
process  of  taming,  which  would  undoubtedly 
have  proved  successful  with  persons  more 
amenable  than  the  twins.  In  the  first  place, 
she  let  them  sleep  as  long  as  they  liked. 
When  Ellen  Louisa  woke,  she  saw  by  the 
century-old  clock,  ticking  on  the  high  chest 
of  drawers,  that  it  was  seven  o'clock.  She 
nudged  Louisa  Ellen,  who  scrambled  out  of 
bed. 

"  We  must  hurry  or  we  will  be  late  to  —  " 
At  that  moment  Louisa  Ellen,  instead  of 
rolling  out  of  a  low  trundle-bed,  fell  with  a 
loud  thump,  from  the  high  four-poster.  She 
realized  that  they  were  not  at  home.  Then 
upon  them  both  dawned  the  recollection  of  the 
flight  before,  and  the  weary  days  before  that. 

"  P-pop,  he  would  n't  like  it  that  we  were 
here,"  said  Louisa  Ellen.  "He  said  we 
should  stay  always  by  Sarah." 


32      WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

Ellen  Louisa  did  not  answer,  but  began  to 
put  on  her  shoes  and  stockings  with  light- 
ning speed.  The  twins  never  wasted  many 
words. 

As  soon  as  Aunt  Mena  heard  them  stirring 
about,  she  came  to  the  foot  of  the  steps. 

"Wee-zy,"  she  called.  " El-lie!  Break- 
fast." 

"  Our  names  — "  began  Ellen  Louisa 
shrilly;  then  she  was  stopped  by  Louisa 
Ellen's  hand  on  her  mouth. 

"  Don't  make  her  mad  over  us/'  advised 
Louisa  Ellen.  "  She  might  pen  us  up." 

"  We  will  go  to  school,"  said  Ellen  Louisa. 
"Then  we  will  go  home  to  dinner.  Pop 
wouldn't  like  it  if  we  were  n't  in  school." 

But  Aunt  Mena  did  not  approve. 

"  In  a  couple  of  days  you  shall  go  again 
in  the  school.  But  you  are  not  going  any 
more  in  the  Spring  Grove  School.  It  is  not 
any  more  your  district." 

"N-not  to  Miss  Miflin!"  gasped  Ellen 
Louisa. 


THE  REBELS  TAKE  TO  ARMS    33 

"  No,  you  are  no  more  in  Miss  Miflin's  dis- 
trict." 

"B-but  — "  Ellen  Louisa  felt  her  braid 
of  black  hair  sharply  tweaked.  Louisa  Ellen 
was  a  shade  thinner  than  Ellen  Louisa  and 
a  trifle  quicker  witted. 

"  You  did  n't  have  to  tell  Aunt  Mena  right 
out  that  we  were  going  home,"  she  said, 
when  they  had  finished  their  breakfast.  "  Now 


come  on." 


The  coast  was,  at  that  moment,  perfectly 
clear.  Aunt  Mena  was  in  the  cellar  getting 
the  cream  ready  to  churn,  and  Aunt  Mena's 
husband  was  in  a  distant  field,  ploughing. 
The  twins  seized  caps  and  shawls  and  fled. 
Ellen  Louisa  made  for  the  high  road. 

"  What  have  you  for !  "  cried  Louisa  Ellen. 
"That  way  she  will  look  for  us.  We  go 
this  way  to  the  Spring  Grove  road.  Come 


on." 


Ten  minutes  later,  when  Aunt  Mena  came 
to  the  door,  they  were  not  in  sight.  Aunt 
Mena  was  not  much  troubled.  She  did  not 


34      WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

know  that  Sarah  had  been  allowed  to  stay 
in  the  farmhouse. 

"  Pooh !  they  will  go  to  Daniel,  and  he 
will  fetch  them  home,  or  I  will  fetch  them 
home.  It  is  all  one." 

And  Aunt  Mena  went  back  to  her  work. 

The  twins  had  a  ride  in  a  farmer's  cart, 
which  brought  them  to  the  foot  of  the  lane. 
Kealizing  that  they  were  too  late  for  school, 
they  decided  to  go  home  until  the  afternoon 
session.  Then  Sarah  would  write  a  note  of 
explanation  to  Miss  Miflin.  To  the  twins 
Sarah's  notes  were  as  all-powerful  as  Alad- 
din's lamp.  To  Miss  Miflin  they  were  sources 
of  both  mirth  and  grief.  She  laughed  be- 
cause they  were  so  irresistibly  funny,  and 
then  she  almost  cried  because  they  reminded 
her  of  plans  and  hopes  once  dear  to  her  heart, 
which  had  been  ended  forever  by  misunder- 
standing and  resentment. 

"  Dear  Teacher,"  Sarah  wrote.  "  Please 
excuse  the  zwillings  "  (there  were  times  in  the 


THE  REBELS  TAKE  TO  ARMS    35 

stress  of  hasty  composition  when  English 
words  eluded  Sarah's  grasp  as  they  eluded 
Jacob  Kalb's)  "  for  being  late.  They  cannot 
come  now  so  early  like  always,  while  they 
must  help  a  little  in  the  morning. 
Their  father, 

SARAH  WENNER." 

Sarah  considered  that  the  signature  was 
a  happy  combination  of  the  respect  due  to 
fathers  and  the  sign  of  her  stewardship  of 
his  affairs. 

Sometimes  Miss  Miflin  started  to  go  to  see 
little  Sarah,  who  had  been  the  best  and  bright- 
est pupil  she  had  ever  had,  but  she  never  got 
quite  to  the  house.  She  blamed  herself  for 
William's  going  away,  and  she  thought  that 
they  too  might  blame  her.  So  she  turned 
back. 

The  twins  had  not  been  at  all  alarmed  by 
the  closed  house.  Sarah  always  drove  to  the 
creamery.  They  did  not  realize  that  Albert 
had  been  taken  away,  and  supposed  that  he 


36      WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

had  gone  with  her,  since  they  were  not  there 
to  look  after  him.  Prying  open  the  cellar 
door,  which  was  fastened  by  a  loose  bar  that 
could  be  moved  from  the  outside,  they  were 
soon  in  the  house.  They  were  wild  with  de- 
light over  their  escape. 

"  Let  us  get  ready  for  Aunt  Mena  if  she 
comes,"  proposed  Louisa  Ellen.  "Let  us 
built  such  a  fort." 

It  was  "  such  a  fort "  which  had  fright- 
ened Sarah.  Now  the  twins  flung  themselves 
upon  her.  They  had  run  off,  they  had  come 
home,  they  were  not  going  to  school  till  af- 
ternoon, they  —  But  where  was  Albert  ? 

"  He  is  by  Uncle  Daniel,"  answered  Sarah 
slowly. 

"  Then  we  will  fetch  him."  The  twins 
made  a  dash  for  the  door.  But  Sarah  held 
them  back. 

"  No,"  she  said.  "  Uncle  Daniel  will  keep 
Albert  by  him.  And  perhaps  Aunt  Mena 
will  fetch  you  again,  and  perhaps  Uncle 
Daniel  will  take  the  farm  away  from  us, 


THE  REBELS  TAKE  TO  ARMS   37 

and  perhaps  we  cannot  be  any  more  to- 
gether." 

The  twins  were  amazed  and  bewildered. 
Sarah's  solemnity  worried  them  more  than 
the  catalogue  of  evils. 

"  What  shall  we  do  ?  "  they  asked. 

"  You  can  learn  your  lessons  and  say  them 
to  me.  And  you  can  sew  your  patchwork 
and  be  quiet  and  smart." 

All  the  rest  of  the  morning,  and  all  the 
afternoon,  there  was  quiet  such  as  the  farm- 
house had  never  known  when  a  twin  was 
within  it  and  awake.  Dinner  was  eaten  al- 
most in  silence,  and  then  Sarah,  locking  the 
door  behind  her,  and  with  many  long  glances 
over  the  fields  and  road,  went  out  to  feed 
the  stock. 

She  fancied  that  she  saw  a  little  face  pressed 
to  the  kitchen  window  of  the  Swartz  farm- 
house, far  away  across  the  brown  fields,  but 
she  could  not  be  sure.  Albert  was  so  little, 
he  had  learned  to  be  fond  of  Uncle  Daniel, 
who  was  constantly  giving  him  presents  of 


38   WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

candy  and  peanuts ;  it  would  be  easy  enough, 
Sarah  thought,  for  them  to  keep  him  there. 

It  was  almost  supper  time,  and  the  early 
dusk  was  falling,  when  the  twins  were  ready 
to  recite  their  lessons.  It  is  safe  to  say  that 
never,  even  in  Pennsylvania  Germandom, 
was  there  a  class  like  this  which  Sarah  held. 
Fortunately  the  twins  were  good  arithmeti- 
cians, for  Sarah  could  not  have  corrected  their 
mistakes ;  she  had  been  too  long  away  from 
school  for  that.  The  twins  never  guessed 
that,  when  she  insisted  upon  a  careful  expla- 
nation of  each  simple  process,  she  was  learn- 
ing from  them. 

They  had  not  heard  as  yet  Miss  Miflin's 
careful  pronunciation  of  the  words  of  the 
spelling  lesson;  so  when  Sarah  said  "wal- 
ley  "  or  "  saw,"  they  answered  at  once  "  v-a-1- 
1-e-y"  or  "t-h-a-w,"  never  dreaming  that 
Sarah's  speech  embodied  all  the  mistakes 
which  Miss  Miflin  tried  to  correct. 

When  it  came  to  the  geography  lesson, 
Sarah  shone.  The  twins  had  not  had  the 


THE  REBELS  TAKE  TO  ARMS        39 

advantage  of  hearing  their  father  and  Wil- 
liam speculate  about  strange  and  distant 
lands ;  they  had  a  certain  amount  of  book- 
knowledge,  but  no  imagination  to  enliven 
it. 

"  How  wide  is  the  Amazon  Eiver  at  its 
mouth?"  asked  Sarah. 

"  Two  hundred  miles/'  answered  the  twins 
glibly. 

"How  wide  is  that?" 

Louisa  Ellen  responded.  To  her  a  river 
was  a  line  on  a  map.  She  would  make  this 
river  wide  enough  even  to  suit  Sarah. 

"About  as  wide  as  the  coal-bucket/'  an- 
swered Louisa  Ellen. 

At  that  moment,  before  Sarah  had  time  to 
explain  to  Louisa  Ellen  the  phenomenal  dull- 
ness of  her  mind,  the  latch  of  the  door  was 
lifted  softly  and  allowed  to  drop. 

"  It  is  Aunt  Mena,"  said  the  twins  to- 
gether. 

Sarah  motioned  them  to  the  settle. 

"  Sit  there  till  I  tell  you  to  get  up,"  she 


40   WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

commanded.  "  I  will  go  up  to  the  window 
and  look  down." 

The  twins  held  each  other's  hands  in 
fright.  Was  Jacob  Kalb  coming  again  to 
carry  them  out  ? 

"Aunt  Mena  couldn't  fetch  us  alone," 
said  Ellen  Louisa. 

Then  they  started  up  in  fright,  realiz- 
ing that  Sarah  was  falling  downstairs.  She 
righted  herself  immediately,  at  the  bottom, 
and  rushed  past  them  to  fling  wide  the 
door. 

A  tiny  little  figure  stood  without. 

"I  sought  I  would  come  once  home,"  said 
Albert.  "  So  I  runned  off." 

Speech  suddenly  became  impossible,  as 
Albert  found  himself  almost  smothered  un- 
der a  multitude  of  caresses.  When  they  let 
him  go,  he  drew  a  sticky  package  from  his 
blouse. 

"  I  brought  some  candy  along  for  you," 
he  said ;  whereupon  he  was  almost  smothered 
again. 


THE  REBELS  TAKE  TO  ARMS        41 

Never  had  the  old  farmhouse  known  more 
happiness  than  filled  it  that  night.  Never 
was  waffle-batter  so  light  or  appetites  so 
good.  Then,  what  games !  Sarah  was  a 
teacher,  book  in  hand,  —  that  was  her  favor- 
ite. Then  they  were  children  lost  in  the 
woods,  and  Sarah  was  a  bear,  —  that  was 
the  twins*. 

No  one  but  Sarah  realized  how  strange  it 
was  that  they  should  be  playing  there  so 
contentedly.  It  seemed  to  her  that  a  vast 
space  of  time  divided  this  day  from  yester- 
day. It  seemed  almost  as  though  her  father 
had  come  back,  or  as  though  William  might 
come  in  upon  them.  Little  Sarah  almost  lis- 
tened for  his  step. 

Then,  like  a  warning  to  dream  no  more, 
there  came  first  an  imperative  lifting  of  the 
latch,  then  a  loud  knock  on  the  door. 

"  What  do  you  want  ?  "  asked  Sarah. 

"Albert  is  to  come  right  aways  home." 
That  was  Jacob  Kalb. 

"  The  twins  are  to  come  right  out."  That 


42      WHEN   SARAH  SAVED  THE   DAY 

was  Aunt  Mena.  For  the  first  time  in  thirty 
years  Aunt  Mena's  butter  had  failed  to 
"get/'  and  she  was  angry  and  impatient. 
She  had  forgotten  her  gentle  intention  to 
"  tame  "  the  twins.  "  Come  right  aways  out, 
or  you  will  get  a  good  whipping." 

The  twins  looked  critically  at  the  strong 
wall  between  them  and  the  enemy.  It  seemed 
a  time  when  the  dictates  of  wisdom  might 
yield  to  those  of  personal  satisfaction. 

"We  won't/'  said  Louisa  Ellen. 

"Jacob  Calf !  "  called  Ellen  Louisa. 

"  Go  upstairs  and  take  Albert/'  com- 
manded Sarah.  Then  she  turned  to  the  door. 
"You  can't  have  my  children." 

"I  give  you  a  last  chance/'  said  Aunt 
Mena.  "  I  don't  care  for  the  dollar  a  week. 
Shall  the  twins  have  a  good  home,  or  shall 
they  not  have  a  good  home  ?  " 

"  You  cannot  have  my  children/'  said  Sarah 
again,  her  heart  pounding  like  a  trip-hammer. 

"  Well,  then,"  called  Aunt  Mena  furi- 
ously, as  she  went  away. 


THE  REBELS  TAKE  TO  ARMS   43 

Jacob  Kalb  lingered.  If  Mena  Illick  re- 
fused to  take  the  twins,  Swartz  might  be 
compelled  to  leave  them  all  there.  Then 
Jacob  could  not  have  the  house. 

"  You  ought  to  be  srashed ! "  he  shouted 
to  Sarah.  "  You  are  a  bad  girl.  You  put 
Albert  out  here." 

Then  Jacob  began  to  pound  on  the  door. 

It  was  five  minutes  later  when  Sarah  came 
upstairs.  Her  face  was  white  and  her  hands 
shook.  Yet  she  was  laughing. 

"  Why  don't  you  tell  him  if  he  don't  go 
away  you  will  shoot  him  with  the  gun  ?  " 
demanded  Louisa  Ellen. 

Sarah  laughed  hysterically. 

"  That  was  just  what  I  did  tell  him,"  she 
said. 


CHAPTER  IH 

UNCLE   DANIEL   STEALS   A   MARCH 

STAMMERING,  frightened,  shouting  something 
to  Aunt  Mena  which  she  did  not  understand, 
Jacob  Kalb  fled  from  the  Wenner  farmhouse 
across  the  fields  toward  the  Swartzes'.  He 
burst  into  the  kitchen,  where  Aunt  'Liza  was 
putting  the  supper  on  the  table,  like  a  wild 
man. 

Aunt  'Liza  was  still  explaining  to  her  an- 
gry husband  how  Albert  got  away. 

"  He  was  here,  and  then  he  was  n't  here," 
she  said  almost  tearfully.  "  And  nobody  was 
here  to  go  after  him,  and  I  did  n't  know  what 
to  do,  and  —  and  I  believe  perhaps  she  came 
after  him." 

Aunt  'Liza  was  willing  to  lay  the  blame  of 
Albert's  escape  almost  anywhere  but  where 
it  belonged,  on  herself.  Then  she  was  fright- 


UNCLE  DANIEL  STEALS  A  MARCH  45 

ened  by  the  look  of  rage  in  Uncle  Daniel's 
face. 

"  Did  you  see  her  here  after  Albert  ?  " 

"  No,  no,  I  did  n't  see  her  here  after  him. 
But  I  thought—  " 

"  Thinking  is  now  no  good/'  answered  Un- 
cle Daniel.  Then  he  got  upon  his  feet. 
"  There,  they  're  coming.  I  can  hear  them." 

Before  he  reached  the  door  Jacob  Kalb 
burst  in. 

"  Sh  —  she  will —  she  will  sh-shoot  me  ! " 
he  cried  wildly.  "  She  was  going  for  to  fetch 
the  shot-gun  to  shoot  me  !  " 

Aunt  'Liza  threw  herself  against  the  door, 
shutting  it  almost  in  Aunt  Mena's  face. 

"Where  are  you  shot,  Jacob?"  she  de* 
manded. 

"  I  am  not  yet  shot,"  answered  Jacob. 
"But  I  will  be  shot.  I—"  He  felt  suddenly 
his  master's  grip  on  his  arm.  "  Ow !  What  is 
the  matter?" 

"Where  is  Albert?"  asked  Uncle  Daniel. 
"  She  has  no  gun  to  shoot  with.  What  are 


46   WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

you  talking  about?  Where  is  Albert,  I 
say?" 

"  She  would  n't  give  him  to  me/'  gasped 
Jacob.  "  They  yelled  at  me,  the  zwillings 
yelled  at  me.  They  wouldn't  give  him  to 
me.  She  is  after  me  with  a  gun.  She — " 
There  was  suddenly  a  loud  pounding  at  the 
door.  "  I  tell  you  she  is  after  me.  She  —  " 

Uncle  Daniel  strode  to  the  door,  and  flung  it 
fvide.  He,  at  least,  was  not  afraid  of  being  shot. 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  "  he  shouted.  Then 
he  saw  that  it  was  Aunt  Mena  who  stood 
without. 

"  I  mean  that  if  Ellie  and  Weezy  don't 
come  along  home  with  me  to-night,  they  are 
not  to  come  at  all,"  said  Aunt  Mena  hotly. 
"  I  cannot  be  running  the  whole  time  over 
the  country  for  them." 

"  Ellie  and  Weezy,"  repeated  her  brother. 
"  Are  they  not  by  you  ?  " 

"  No,  they  ran  early  this  morning  off  al- 
ready." 

;<  And  Albert  ran  off,"  said  Aunt  'Liza. 


UNCLE   DANIEL   STEALS  A  MARCH  47 

"  I  could  not  help  it.  I  went  a  little  while  on 
the  garret,  and  when  I  came  back,  he  was 
gone.  I  cannot  help  it.  I  —  Where  are  you 
then  going,  Daniel  ?  " 

Uncle  Daniel  cast  a  scornful  glance  at  the 
two  women  who  could  not  keep  three  children, 
one  a  mere  baby,  from  running  away,  and  at 
the  fright-stricken  Jacob  ;  then,  regardless  of 
the  hot  supper,  about  which  he  was  usually 
so  particular,  he  stalked  out. 

"  Put  Albert's  high  chair  to  the  table,"  he 
had  ordered  briefly. 

In  fifteen  minutes  he  was  back.  Aunt  'Liza 
had  not  learned  much  tact  in  all  her  twenty 
years  of  wedded  life,  or  she  would  not  have 
begun  to  question  him  before  he  was  inside 
the  door. 

"Where  is  then  Albert?"  she  asked. 

Swartz  did  not  deign  to  answer.  With  a 
heavy  frown,  he  sat  down  at  the  table  and 
began  to  eat. 

"  Did  n't  she  give  him  to  you  ?  "  demanded 
Aunt  Mena,  aghast. 


48   WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

"  Be  still,"  said  Unele  Daniel  shortly. 

"  Did  she  get  after  you  with  the  gun?  "  asked 
Jacob  Kalb.  He  had  just  finished  giving  the 
women  an  account  of  his  adventure.  He  said 
that  he  saw  the  gun-barrel  when  he  looked 
in  the  keyhole. 

"  Then  she  didn't  come  out  after  you?" 
said  Aunt  Mena. 

"No,  but  she  was  coming,"  insisted  Jacob. 
"  I  am  going  to  have  the  law  on  her,  that  is 
what  I  am  going  to  do.  I  will  have  her  put 
in  jail.  I  will  have  her  —  " 

"  Be  quiet,"  said  Uncle  Daniel  to  him,  also. 

Aunt  Mena  rose  to  go. 

"  I  don't  come  again  after  Ellie  and  Weezy, 
remember,"  she  said.  "  If  you  fetch  them 
over,  perhaps  I  will  take  them  back.  Just 
tame  Sarah  a  little — "  She  forgot  that  her 
own  efforts  at  taming  had  not  been  very  suc- 
cessful. "And  then  put  somebody  in  the 
house,  so  she  cannot  get  back.  That  will  set- 
tle it." 

"  Be  quiet,"  said  Uncle  Daniel  again. 


UNCLE  DANIEL  STEALS  A  MARCH  49 

"I  will  have  the  law  on  her/'  muttered 
Jacob  Kalb.  Every  few  minutes  he  rubbed 
his  leg,  as  though  he  were  feeling  for  a  gun- 
shot wound. 

It  was  ten  minutes  before  Uncle  Daniel 
laid  down  his  knife  and  fork  and  pushed 
back  his  plate.  Either  reflection  or  the  good 
supper  had  soothed  him.  The  angry  flush 
was  dying  out  of  his  face. 

"  Well,  what  are  you  going  to  do?"  asked 
Aunt  'Liza. 

"  I  have  it  fixed,"  he  answered  compla- 
cently. 

"  Are  you  going  to  put  her  out  of  the 
house?"  asked  Aunt  'Liza. 

"  Are  you  going  to  have  the  law  on  her?" 
asked  Jacob  Kalb. 

"Yes,"  answered  Uncle  Daniel.  "I  am 
going  to  put  her  out  of  the  house,  and  I  am 
going  to  have  the  law  on  her.  I  am  going  to 
do  both  of  those  things.  I  am  going  to  be 
the  guardian  of  her  and  of  Ellie  and  Weezy 
and  Albert." 


60      WHEN   SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

"  Guardian  ?  "  repeated  Aunt  Eliza. 

"  Yes,  guardian.  Those  children  must 
have  a  guardian,  and  I  am  the  one  to  be 
it.  But  I  must  have  papers.  You  cannot 
be  a  guardian  unless  you  have  the  papers 
from  the  court.  I  will  go  to-morrow  to  town 
and  get  papers.  Everything  shall  be  fixed 
right." 

Aunt  Eliza  was  alarmed. 

"But  it  will  cost  money  !  "  she  cried. 

"  Nothing  of  the  kind/'  answered  Uncle 
Daniel.  "  It  is  a  kindness  I  do  these  children. 
Shall  I  pay  for  it,  yet?" 

"  And  then  Sarah  will  have  to  come  here?  " 

"Sarah  will  have  to  do  what  I  say  she 
shall  do,"  answered  Uncle  Daniel.  "And 
Albert  and  Ellie  and  Weezy.  Everybody 
will  have  to  do  what  I  say  they  shall  do." 

Jacob  Kalb  gazed  at  him  with  admiration 
and  delight.  Daniel  Swartz  always  found 
some  way  of  accomplishing  what  he  wished. 
It  was  true  that  he  had  not  succeeded  in 
adopting  William  Wenner.  But  he  had 


UNCLE   DANIEL  STEALS  A  MARCH  51 

succeeded  in  punishing  William,  only  Jacob 
knew  how  well. 

If  it  had  not  been  for  that  knowledge, 
Jacob  Kalb  would  not  have  been  looking 
forward  with  such,  delight  to  living  in  the 
Wenner  house,  instead  of  walking  back 
and  forth  each  night  and  morning  to  the 
house  of  his  wife's  father,  three  miles  away, 
where  he  lived  now. 

He  rose  to  go  home,  not  at  all  certain  that 
Sarah  was  not  waiting  for  him  outside  the 
door  with  her  shot-gun. 

"  In  the  morning  you  are  to  go  early  into 
town  with  me,"  said  Uncle  Daniel.  "  At  six 
o'clock  we  will  start." 

"You  ought  to  bring  a  little  hat  for 
Albert,"  said  Aunt  'Liza  when  the  door  was 
closed. 

"No,  sir,"  answered  her  husband.  "I 
bring  him  perhaps  a  little  candy  or  peanuts, 
but  no  more.  Not  till  he  is  here  to  stay.  I 
brought  William  sometimes  presents,  suits, 
I  brought  him,  and  a  little  cap,  and  shoes, 


52  WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

and  once  such  a  little  velocipede,  and  what 
did  I  get  ?  No,  sir.  When  Albert  is  here  to 
stay,  then  I  get  him  some  things." 

When  supper  was  over,  he  sat  down  before 
the  fire.  He  seemed  to  be  brooding  over 
William's  ingratitude. 

"  Shoes,  I  bought  him,  and  candy.  And 
what  did  I  get  for  it?" 

Accompanied  by  Jacob  Kalb,  he  reached 
the  county  seat  long  before  the  earliest 
lawyer  was  astir.  It  did  not  occur  to  him 
that  there  was  a  difference  in  lawyers  or 
lawyers'  prices.  He  had  heard  of  Alexander 
Weaver,  so  he  went  to  him. 

"  This  is  a  fine  way,"  he  said  to  Jacob 
Kalb,  when  they  had  waited  for  half  an  hour. 
"  I'd  like  to  know  how  my  work  would  get 
done  if  I  fooled  round  this  way  in  the  early 
morning ;  that  is  what  I  would  like  to  know. 
If  he  don't  soon  come,  I  go." 

Then  the  door  of  Mr.  Weaver's  private 
office  opened,  and  Mr.  Weaver  himself  in- 
vited them  in.  He  was  a  clear-eyed,  middle- 


UNCLE  DANIEL  STEALS  A  MARCH  53 

/ged  man,  so  busy  that  he  often  offended  his 
clients  by  his  curtness.  He  gave  Daniel  and 
Jacob  chairs  where  he  could  watch  their 
faces.  He  imagined  from  their  appearance 
that  they  had  come  about  some  country 
quarrel.  And  country  fees  were  hard  to  col- 
lect. 

Uncle  Daniel  began  slowly  to  state  his 
cause. 

"My  brother-in-law,  he  is  dead,"  he  an- 
nounced. 

"Yes?"  The  lawyer  crossed  his  knees 
nervously. 

"  And  my  sister,  she  is  dead." 

"Yes?" 

"And  it  is  nobody  to  look  after  their 
things." 

"Any  children?" 

"Yes." 

"  Minors  ?  "  asked  the  lawyer. 

"No,  children." 

"Well,  I  mean  any  under  age,  under 
twenty-one?" 


54      WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

"Yes,  it  is  a  couple.  Sarah  — "  Uncle 
Daniel  counted  them  off  on  his  fingers.  The 
lawyer's  abrupt  speech  startled  him,  and  he 
was  afraid  he  might  forget. 

"How  old?" 

"She  is  fifteen,  but  she  is  little.  She 
could  not  run  a  farm." 

"  But  she  thinks  she  can  do  everything," 
put  in  Jacob  Kalb.  "  She  got  after  me  with 
a  gun." 

The  lawyer  smiled.  He  did  not  take  kindly 
to  Jacob  Kalb,  and  it  was  amusing  to  think 
of  a  fifteen-year-old  girl  "getting  after"  him 
with  a  gun. 

"Any  others?" 

"  Yes,  it  is  a  couple  of  twins,  Weezy  and 

"How  old?" 

"About  ten.  But  they  are  —  " 
"Any  others?" 
"Albert.  He  is  four.  He  —  " 
"  And  you  want  to  be  appointed  guardian 
of  these  minor  children  of  your  sister  ? '' 


UNCLE   DANIEL  STEALS  A  MARCH  55 

"  Yes,  sir."  Uncle  Daniel  blinked.  He 
could  not  understand  the  phenomenal  quick- 
ness of  this  man's  mind.  For  the  next  few 
minutes  he  continued  to  blink  rapidly. 

"  Your  name  ?  Your  occupation  ?  The 
value  of  the  property  of  these  minors  ? " 
Question  followed  question  so  fast  that  Uncle 
Daniel  could  hardly  think. 

"  You  will  have  to  sign  a  bond  for  the 
amount  of  the  property,  you  know.  Your 
application  will  be  sent  to  the  Orphans' 
Court.  Come  back  in  a  month.  The  retain- 
ing fee  will  be  twenty-five  dollars." 

Then  Uncle  Daniel  got  his  breath. 

"  Twenty-five  dollars  !  Twenty -five  dol- 
lars for  what  ?  " 

"  For  making  application  to  the  Orphans' 
Court.  Was  n't  that  what  you  wanted  me  to 
do?" 

"  Y-yes,  b-but  twenty  -  five  dollars  for 
writing  outacouple  of  papers  !  Twenty  —  " 

The  lawyer  swung  round  to  his  desk. 
Daniel  realized  suddenly  that  the  lawyer  did 


56  WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

not  care  whether  he  got  the  case  or  not. 
He  became  all  the  more  anxious  to  have  this 
remarkable  man  continue  it.  Sarah  might  in 
some  way  make  trouble. 

"  All  right/'  he  stammered.  "  We  will 
come  in  a  month  back  again.  We  —  " 

The  lawyer  flung  him  a  crumb  of  com- 
fort. 

"  You  will  be  reimbursed,  of  course,  from 
the  estate/'  he  said ;  and  Uncle  Daniel's  face 
brightened. 

He  did  not  realize  that  in  thus  putting 
himself  into  the  hands  of  the  law,  he  would 
place  over  his  own  actions  a  guardian  to 
whom  he  should  some  day  have  to  give  an 
account  of  his  stewardship.  In  Uncle  Dan- 
iel's mind,  he  was  to  be,  after  the  month  was 
up,  supreme  arbiter  of  the  fates  of  the  Wen- 
ners, —  Sarah  and  Albert  and  the  twins  alike, 
and  of  their  property.  He  meant  to  be  hon- 
est. Even  though  he  did  take  the  farm,  he 
would  support  them,  Sarah  and  Albert  at 
his  own  home,  and  the  twins  at  Aunt  Mena's. 


UNCLE  DANIEL  STEALS  A  MARCH  57 

Only,  if  Sarah  did  not  behave,  she  would 
have  to  go  out  to  work. 

There  was  triumph  in  every  motion  of 
Uncle  Daniel's  broad,  heavy  shoulders,  as  he 
went  down  the  steps.  He  had  begun  to  think 
that  education  was  a  good  thing  for  lawyers, 
also.  It  must  be  pleasant  to  get  twenty-five 
dollars  for  writing  a  few  words. 

At  a  store  at  the  corner,  he  bought  five 
cents'  worth  of  peanuts  and  a  small  bag  of 
candy.  Then  they  started  home,  drawing 
rein  first  at  the  Ebert  farm.  Ebert  appeared 
in  response  to  a  loud  hulloa.  He  wondered 
why  Swartz  was  stopping  at  his  gate. 

"  When  will  you  begin  to  plough  for  the 
little  one  ?  "  Uncle  Daniel  asked  pleasantly. 

"To-morrow  morning." 

"  Well,  you  need  n't  plough  at  all,"  said 
Uncle  Daniel.  "I  am  to  be  guardian,  and 
I  will  plough." 

When  they  reached  the  lane  which  led  to 
the  Wenner  house,  they  saw  Albert  and  the 
twins  playing  in  the  yard.  Swartz  pulled  in 


68   WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

the  horse  with  a  jerk,  then  he  jumped  down 
with  the  little  bags  in  his  hand. 

"  Tell  'Lizie  that  Albert  will  be  home  for 
supper/'  he  said. 

This  time  he  did  not  stride  up  to  the 
door  and  demand  Albert.  Instead  he  stole 
down  the  lane  to  the  back  of  the  house.  He 
did  not  mean  to  take  any  actively  offensive 
measures  till  the  end  of  the  month. 

Sarah  was  not  able  to  tell  afterwards  how 
Albert  got  away.  She  had  kept  the  children 
close  beside  her  all  the  morning,  and  it  was 
not  until  afternoon  that  she  yielded  to  their 
pleadings  to  be  allowed  to  go  out  of  doors 
to  play.  Then  she  sat  down  at  the  window 
with  some  sewing  in  her  hands,  in  order  that 
she  might  watch  them. 

She  had  not  moved  until  the  sudden  hiss- 
ing of  steam  warned  her  that  the  water  in 
the  kettle  was  boiling  over.  It  had  not  taken 
her  a  minute  to  move  it  to  the  back  part 
of  the  stove,  but  in  that  instant  Albert  was 
gone.  She  could  see  them  crossing  the  fields, 


UNCLE  DANIEL  STEALS  A  MARCH  59 

Albert  in  his  uncle's  arms.  The  twins  ran 
frantically  behind  them,  and  Sarah  hurried 
to  the  door. 

"He  coaxed  him  away  with  candy," 
wailed  Louisa  Ellen  when  they  ran  back. 
"  But  Albert  said  he  was  coming  home  for 
supper." 

That  night  there  were  no  games.  The 
doors  were  barred  early,  the  supper  eaten 
silently.  Then  Sarah  got  pen  and  paper  and 
sat  down  beside  the  lamp.  She  would  make 
a  last  appeal  to  William.  Perhaps,  though 
all  the  other  letters  had  failed,  this  might 
reach  him,  and  reaching  him,  might  touch 
his  heart. 

It  would  have  taken  Sarah  all  night  and 
all  the  next  day  to  say  all  that  was  in  her 
mind.  But  the  task  of  composition  was  diffi- 
cult and  the  letter  was  short.  It  read :  — 

DEAR  BROTHER, —  My  Uncle  Daniel  is 
after  us.  He  fetched  Albert  again.  Jacob 
Kalb  wants  to  live  here.  The  twins  will  not 


60      WHEN  SARAH   SAVED  THE  DAY 

stay  by  Aunt  Mena.  I  am  doing  the  best  I 
can.  I  wish  you  would  come  home.  Uncle 
Daniel  will  not  have  it  that  the  twins  and 
Albert  live  in  their  right  home.  We  are  well 
and  hope  you  are  the  same. 
Resp.  yours, 

SAKAH  WENNER. 

P.  S.  I  chased  Jacob  Kalb  off  with  the 
gun,  but  I  fear  me  that  perhaps  he  will  come 
again. 

It  was  not  a  neat  production,  Sarah  real- 
ized that.  She  tried  to  wipe  off  a  teardrop 
which  fell  upon  it,  and  made  a  tremendous 
blot.  And  William  had  always  been  so  par- 
ticular about  the  way  she  wrote.  It  did  not 
occur  to  her  that,  to  the  heart  of  an  affec- 
tionate brother,  the  pathetic  blot  would  be 
more  eloquent  than  pages  of  pleading. 

She  addressed  the  letter  to  Seattle,  then, 
waking  the  twins,  who  had  gone  to  sleep  on 
the  settle,  she  sent  them  to  bed. 

Ah,  that  old  settle,  how  many  times  it  had 


UNCLE   DANIEL  STEALS  A  MARCH  61 

held  them  !  What  would  Uncle  Daniel  have 
done  with  that?  He  and  Aunt  Mena  had 
settles  of  their  own.  Would  he  have  left  it 
there  for  Jacob  Calf?  And  the  dear,  bat- 
tered furniture,  the  high  chair  which  had 
held  them  all,  from  William  down  to  Albert, 
—  would  he  have  sold  them  ?  It  would  be 
like  killing  a  live  creature  to  break  up  that 
home.  Sarah  gave  up  her  own  dreams  cheer- 
fully. She  thought  no  more  of  the  "Nor- 
mal." If  they  could  only  stay  together,  she 
would  ask  no  more  of  fate. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THERE  IS  COMPANY  TO  SUPPER 

Miss  MIFLIN  wondered  day  after  day  why 
the  Wenner  twins  did  not  come  to  school. 
She  knew  that  their  father  had  died, — that 
would  account  for  three  or  four  days,  but 
why  had  they  not  come  back  after  the  fu- 
neral ? 

It  was  true  that  their  absence  made  Miss 
Miflin's  life  much  easier.  They  were  not  only 
very  active  themselves,  but  they  were  able  to 
incite  the  best-behaved  of  schools  to  mischief. 
When  Miss  Miflin  heard  confusion  behind 
her  as  she  put  a  problem  on  the  board,  she 
needed  only  to  call  out,  "  Ellen  Louisa !  " 
and  then  "  Louisa  Ellen ! "  and  the  noise 
ceased. 

When  they  were  approached  in  private, 
the  twins  were  as  shy  as  rabbits.  They  stood 


THERE  IS   COMPANY  TO  SUPPER     63 

twisting  their  aprons  and  looking  at  each 
other  as  though  Miss  Miflin  were  an  ogress. 
There  seemed  to  be  in  them  the  same  strange 
quality  that  Miss  Miflin  had  discovered  in 
William  and  Sarah,  —  a  certain  standing  on 
guard.  It  had  prevented  Miss  Miflin  from 
writing  to  William  to  try  to  straighten  out 
the  miserable  tangle  which  they  had  made 
of  their  friendship;  it  made  her  think  of 
Sarah  as  a  rather  reserved  young  woman, 
instead  of  a  lonely  little  girl.  It  made  her 
hesitate  even  to  offer  her  sympathy  now  that 
Sarah's  father  was  dead.  She  was  not  a  Penn- 
sylvania German,  and  it  seemed  to  her  that 
they  did  not  thoroughly  trust  her. 

She  was  always  prepared  for  the  unex- 
pected in  the  twins'  behavior;  but  when, 
one  morning  late  in  March,  they  appeared  at 
the  school-door  carrying  an  old  shot-gun, 
the  same  which  had  done  such  deadly  execu- 
tion upon  the  frightened  Jacob  Kalb,  she 
said  aloud,  "  Well,  what  next !  "  Then  she 
Went  down  the  aisle  to  speak  to  them. 


64      WHEN  SARAH   SAVED  THE  DAY 

"  I  am  glad  to  see  you  back,  Ellen  Louisa 
and  Louisa  Ellen."  She  had  long  since  dis- 
covered that  any  attempt  to  abbreviate  the 
names  of  the  twins  was  not  received  with 
favor. 

"  Yes,  ma'am/'  the  twins  answered  po- 
litely. They  could  not  have  told  why  they 
were  so  mischievous ;  it  was  a  Topsy-like  ob- 
session which  they  could  not  control.  They 
both  blindly  adored  Miss  Miflin. 

"  And  why  do  you  come  to  school  armed 
as  though  you  were  going  to  war  ?  " 

The  twins  giggled.  The  idea  of  going  to 
war  pleased  them. 

"So  nobody  shall  carry  us  off,"  answered 
Louisa  Ellen. 

"Is  anybody  likely  to  carry  you  off?" 
asked  Miss  Miflin,  smiling.  She  had  seen  at 
once  that  the  gun  was  useless  as  a  weapon. 

"  Yes,  ma'am,"  answered  Ellen  Louisa. 

Miss  Miflin  smiled  again.  It  was  time  to 
begin  school,  and  she  supposed  it  was  all  one 
of  the  twins'  tricks. 


THERE  IS  COMPANY  TO  SUPPER     65 

"Put  the  gun  in  the  corner  and  go  to 
your  seats/'  she  said. 

An  hour  later  Miss  Miflin  heard  a  stir  in 
the  back  of  the  room. 

"  Ellen  —  "  she  began.  Then  she  followed 
the  children's  gaze  toward  the  window. 

Sarah  Wenner  stood  there,  looking  in,  as 
though  she  only  meant  to  assure  herself  of 
the  twins'  presence.  But  what  a  changed, 
wild-eyed  Sarah!  Miss  Miflin  dropped  chalk 
and  ruler  and  went  to  the  door. 

"  Sarah  !  "  she  called. 

Sarah  came  hurriedly  from  the  other  side 
of  the  schoolhouse. 

"I  did  n't  mean  anything,"  she  explained. 
"  I  wanted  just  to  see  if  Ellen  Louisa  and 
Louisa  Ellen  were  in  school,  that  was  all." 

She  did  not  say  that  the  twins  had  added 
another  frightened  hour  to  those  which  had 
made  her  face  so  white.  They  had  slipped 
away  while  she  went  to  the  barn. 

"Didn't  you  want  them  to  come  to 
school?"  asked  Miss  Miflin. 


66      WHEN   SARAH   SAVED  THE  DAY 

"  Ach,  yes !  "  cried  Sarah.  "  I  want  them 
to  go  every  day  in  the  school." 

Relief  and  the  sight  of  Miss  Miflin  were 
already  putting  some  color  into  her  cheeks. 

"  Are  you  well,  Sarah  ?  "  asked  Miss  Miflin. 

"  Ach,  yes  !  "  answered  Sarah.  "But  now 
I  must  go  home.  You  must  excuse  me  while 
I  disturbed  the  school  for  you.  Here  is  lunch 
for  Ellen  Louisa  and  Louisa  Ellen,  then 
they  need  not  come  all  the  way  home  for 
dinner.  Will  you —  will  you  watch  them,  so 
they  do  not  go  off  to  play  at  recess?  Just 
give  it  to  them  if  they  are  not  good.  I  will 
then  walk  a  piece  way  along  to  meet  them 
when  they  come  home  from  school." 

Sarah  was  gone  before  Miss  Miflin  could 
ask  any  more  questions.  She  saw  her  look 
back  as  she  tramped  along  the  muddy  road, 
then  she  vanished  behind  a  hedge  of  alders. 
Miss  Miflin  was  puzzled  and  disturbed. 

It  was  almost  an  hour  before  Sarah  reached 
the  Eberts'  door.  She  was  inexpressibly  tired, 
and  the  roads  were  deep  with  mud.  She  had 


THERE  IS  COMPANY  TO  SUPPER     67 

not  been  sleeping  well  at  night.  Uncle 
Daniel  had  made  no  further  move,  but  she 
felt  that  the  delay  was  only  a  truce.  She  had 
seen  nothing  of  Albert,  though  it  had  been 
several  weeks  since  his  uncle  had  carried  him 
away.  They  were  guarding  him  well. 

Ebert  had  not  come  to  plough,  and  Sarah 
was  worried.  She  had  looked  for  him  day  after 
day,  and  now  she  feared  that  he  was  sick. 

She  could  get  no  answer  when  she  knocked 
at  the  door.  The  house  was  closed,  yet  in 
the  field  near  by  the  earth  had  been  turned 
up  that  morning.  Why  did  they  not  answer  ? 
She  could  not  know  that  Mrs.  Ebert  watched 
her  from  an  upper  window,  with  tears  in  her 
eyes. 

"I  was  n't  going  to  tell  her  that  you 
wouldn't  plough  for  her,"  she  said  to  her  hus- 
band at  noon. 

"  Well,  I  guess  I  am  not  going  to  plough 
and  then  let  Swartz  have  the  benefit,"  an- 
swered Ebert. 

Troubled  and  anxious,  Sarah  went  on  to* 


68      WHEN  SARAH   SAVED  THE  DAY 

ward  home.  As  she  turned  to  go  up  the  lana 
she  saw  a  man  at  work  in  the  north  field. 
Ah,  Ebert  had  begun  !  Then  her  flying  feet 
halted.  The  horses  were  Uncle  Daniel's 
grays,  the  man  was  Jacob  Kalb.  Sarah  cried 
out  as  though  she  had  been  struck. 

Then  she  saw  that  the  fence  was  down. 
It  was  not  a  worm-fence,  which  could  be  put 
up  again  in  a  little  while,  but  a  stout  "  post 
and  rail."  The  posts  had  been  taken  out. 
The  two  fields  formed  together  a  great  slope 
which  ran  from  the  Wenners'  garden  to  the 
edge  of  the  Swartzes'  yard. 

Sarah  gathered  her  shawl  a  little  closer 
about  her  and  ran  on. 

"  Get  out,  Jacob  Kalb ! "  she  called. 

For  a  minute  Jacob  looked  as  though  he 
meant  to  run.  He  had  protested  against  com- 
ing to  plough  so  near  the  house,  for  fear  that 
Sarah  might  "  do  him  something."  Now  he 
saw  that  Sarah  did  not  carry  a  gun.  He 
mocked  her  rudely. 

"  Get  out,  Sarah  Wenner ! " 


THERE  IS  COMPANY  TO  SUPPER    69 

"I  tell  you,  you  shall  go  away,  Jacob 
Kalb,"  she  shouted.  "  This  is  not  your 
land." 

Jacob  laughed.  "  You  will  have  to  go 
pretty  soon  away/'  he  said. 

Sarah  could  eat  no  dinner,  but  sat  at  the 
window  watching.  Already  the  boundary  be- 
tween the  two  farms  was  fast  disappearing. 
How  would  they  be  able  ever  to  find  it  again  ? 
What  would  her  mother  and  father  have 
said  ?  What  would  William  say  when  he  came 
home? 

When  he  came  home.  It  was  growing  to  be 
if  he  came  home  in  Sarah's  mind.  Anxiety 
was  doing  its  work. 

She  remembered  things  which  she  had 
heard  as  a  child  and  forgotten,  —  her  mo- 
ther's sharp  criticism  of  Daniel  Swartz's  mean- 
ness, her  father's  good-natured  laughter.  She 
did  not  know  how  easily  that  same  dear, 
thoughtless  father  might  have  made  it  im- 
possible for  his  brother-in-law  to  interfere 
with  them.  He  might  easily  have  provided 


70      WHEN  SARAH   SAVED  THE  DAT 

another  guardian  for  his  children.  He  had 
meant  to,  —  that  much  must  be  said  for  him, 

—  but  he  was  a  procrastinator,  and  at  the 
end  there  had  been  no  time. 

Sarah  could  not  go  now  to  meet  the  twins 
when  they  came  from  school ;  she  did  not  dare 
to  leave  the  house.  Jacob  Kalb  might  take 
possession  while  she  was  away. 

The  afternoon  passed  slowly.  Toward  even- 
ing, there  was  a  late  flurry  of  snow.  And 
the  twins  did  not  come.  Sarah  ran  part  way 
down  the  lane,  —  they  were  not  yet  in  sight, 

—  then  she  went  to  the  barn  to  milk,  her 
ears  straining  to  hear  any  unfriendly  sound. 
It  soothed  and  comforted  her  to  be  with  the 
friendly  beasts  which  she  loved.  Both  "  Moo- 
ley"  and  "Curly"  had  been   born  on  the 
place,  they  were  part  of  the  living  fibre  of 
the  homestead. 

It  was  fortunate  that  the  twins  called  to 
Sarah  before  they  ran  up  to  the  door  of 
the  barn,  for  another  shock  was  more  than 
Sarah  could  have  borne  at  that  moment.  The 


THERE  IS   COMPANY  TO  SUPPER    71 

twins'  voices  trembled  with  some  exciting 
news. 

"She  came  along  home  with  us/'  said 
Louisa  Ellen. 

"  She  carried  the  gun  for  us/'  said  Ellen 
Louisa. 

"  She  is  waiting  at  the  front  door." 

"  Who  is  waiting  at  the  front  door  ?  "  asked 
Sarah.  Then  she  added  fearfully,  "  Aunt 
Mena?" 

"No,  teacher." 

"Teacher!"  repeated  Sarah.  "Wh-what 
did  she  come  for?  Have  you  then  not  been 
smart?" 

"  For  to  see  us,"  said  Louisa  Ellen  impa- 
tiently. "She  is  coming  for  company.  She — " 

Sarah  had  crossed  the  lane,  a  milk-pail  in 
either  hand. 

"  Come,"  she  called,  in  a  voice  which  was 
meant  to  be  a  whisper,  but  which  Miss 
Miflin,  waiting  on  the  broad  doorstep,  heard 
clearly.  "  Hurry  yourselves,  and  fix  a  little  up. 
Perhaps — "  Sarah  could  scarcely  speak  for 


72  WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

excitement.  "  Perhaps  she  will  stay  for  sup- 
per." 

A  moment  later,  she  opened  the  front  door. 
Her  black  hair  was  brushed  back  a  little  more 
closely  to  her  head,  her  face  shone,  the  great 
white  apron  which  she  had  hastily  put  on 
over  her  gingham  one  was  much  longer  than 
her  dress,  and  from  the  back  her  gray-stock- 
inged ankles  could  be  seen  outlined  against 
it  in  pathetic  thinness. 

"Come  in,  teacher,"  she  begged  shyly. 
"  Come  once  into  the  room  [parlor]  and  I 
will  hurry  make  a  fire. " 

"Oh  no,"  said  Miss  Miflin.  "I'll  come 
back  to  the  kitchen  with  you.  I  did  n't  come 
to  be  company.  I  came  to  bring  the  twins 
home,  and  the  gun." 

"  The  gun ! "  repeated  Sarah.  "  Did  they 
then  take  the  gun  along?  Come  in.  It  does  n't 
look  here  so  good  like  always.  I  —  I  did  n't 
work  this  afternoon  so  very  much.  I  — " 
And  Sarah  ushered  Miss  Miflin  into  the 
immaculate  kitchen. 


THERE  IS   COMPANY  TO  SUPPER     73 

Miss  Miflin  breathed  a  sigh  of  relief.  The 
chill  of  the  house  had  struck  into  her  heart. 
Could  William  have  lived  here?  Then  she 
saw  the  glow  of  the  fire,  the  bright  rag  car- 
pet, the  blooming  geraniums  in  the  window. 
This  looked  like  William.  Miss  Miflin  put 
out  her  hand  and  drew  Ellen  Louisa,  in  a 
clean  white  apron,  to  her  side.  She,  too,  was 
William's. 

"  I  wonder  whether  you  would  let  me  stay 
for  sapper  ?  "  she  asked. 

The  glow  in  Sarah's  face  answered  her. 

"If  it  is  you  good  enough,"  answered 
Sarah  humbly. 

"  Good  enough  !  "  laughed  Miss  Miflin. 
She  pulled  off  her  over-shoes  and  slipped  out 
of  her  coat.  She  had  no  home  of  her  own, 
and  had  been  boarding  at  a  country  hotel 
for  three  years.  "  But  you  children  don't 
stay  here  alone  at  night !  " 

"Yes,"  said  Sarah. 

"  But  aren't  you  afraid?  " 

"Ach,  no !  Nobody  would  do  us  anything/1 


T4     WHEN  SARAH   SAVED  THE  DAY 

stammered  Sarah.  She  could  not  tell  this 
stranger  any  of  their  troubles. 

"  But  have  n't  you  a  little  brother  ?  "  Miss 
Miflin  looked  round  the  kitchen. 

"  Yes,  ma'am/'  answered  Sarah.  She  sud- 
denly put  out  her  hand,  and  laid  it  on  Louisa 
Ellen's  shoulder,  and  Louisa  Ellen  closed  her 
lips  as  though  she  had  meant  to  speak,  but 
had  changed  her  mind.  "  Yes,  Albert.  He 
is  now  by  my  uncle." 

"And  don't  any  of  your  uncle's  people 
come  to  stay  with  you  at  night  ?  " 

"  Ach,  no !  "  answered  Sarah.  Suddenly 
she  felt  her  voice  give  way.  There  was  some- 
thing in  Miss  Miflin's  brown,  astonished  eyes 
which  made  her  feel  that  she  might  cry.  But 
that  would  never  do.  "  T-take  a  ch-chair. 
I-I  guess  you  had  to  laugh  at  how  the  twins 
learned  their  lessons.  I  taught  them  while 
they  were  at  home." 

"  They  learned  them  well,"  replied  Miss 
Miflin.  "  Now  I  am  going  to  help  get  sup- 
per." 


THERE  IS   COMPANY  TO   SUPPER     75 

The  twins  could  scarcely  believe  their  eyes. 
It  was  as  though  a  fairy  had  come  to  the 
farmhouse,  a  dear,  capable  fairy,  who  could 
dry  dishes  and  cut  bread,  and  magically 
change  tired,  care-worn  Sarah  into  the  gay, 
cheerful  Sarah  of  old.  It  was  almost  nine 
o'clock  when  Ellen  Louisa  turned  from  the 
window,  against  which  she  had  been  flatten- 
ing her  nose. 

"  It 's  snowing  again,"  she  announced. 

Miss  Miflin  looked  up  in  dismay.  She  had 
forgotten  how  fast  the  time  was  passing. 
Sarah  never  knew  that,  summoned  by  her 
stories  and  her  love,  it  seemed  to  Miss  Miflin 
that  William  was  there  with  them. 

"I  shall  have  to  go  at  once,"  she  cried. 
"  I  had  no  idea  it  was  so  late." 

Sarah  clasped  her  hands  together. 

"  You  are  welcome  to  stay  here,"  she  said. 
"  If  it  is  you  good  enough,  you  are  welcome 
to  stay  here !  " 

Miss  Miflin  crossed  the  room  to  look  out 
of  the  window. 


76   WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

"  I  guess  I  '11  have  to.  Then  I  can  take  the 
twins  with  me  to  school  in  the  morning  and 
they  won't  need  the  gun.  And  why  do  they 
want  to  run  away,  where  some  one  might  pick 
them  up  ?  And  who  wants  to  pick  them  up?" 

It  was  a  second  before  Sarah  answered. 
Suppose  she  should  tell  Miss  Miflin  about 
Uncle  Daniel,  and  about  Jacob  Kalb,  and  all 
her  anxieties  and  fears?  But,  no,  it  would 
never  do.  It  made  her  ashamed  to  think  of 
Uncle  Daniel.  She  did  not  believe  William 
would  like  her  to  tell.  She  frowned  again  at 
Louisa  Ellen. 

"  Ach,  they  are  a  little  wild,"  she  explained. 
"They  like  their  school,  but  they  are  a 
little  wild." 

By  this  time  Miss  Miflin  had  a  delighted 
and  sleepy  twin  on  each  side  of  her  on  the 
settle. 

"  But  they  are  not  going  to  be  wild  any 
more,"  she  said. 

Sarah  was  asleep  that  night  almost  before 
her  head  touched  the  pillow.  It  seemed  to 


THERE  IS  COMPANY  TO  SUPPER     77 

her  that  peace  had  descended  upon  her  heart, 
and  hopes  for  a  better  day. 

It  was  midnight  when  she  suddenly  awoke 
Miss  Miflin  was  standing  beside  the  bed. 

"  Sarah !  Sarah,  dear,  wake  up.  Your  uncle 
is  here  and  wants  you." 

Sarah  tried  to  open  her  drowsy  eyes. 

"He  can't  have  them,"  she  said,  bewil- 
dered. "  Tell  him  he  must  go  away." 

"  But  listen,  Sarah.  He  says  Albert  is  sick 
and  they  want  you." 

Sarah  sat  up  at  once. 

"  He  is  waiting  for  you  at  the  door.  Come, 
I  '11  help  you  with  your  clothes.  Don't  come 
back  to-night.  I  '11  get  breakfast  for  the  twins. 
No,  Sarah,  the  other  shoe.  No,  you  must  put 
on  all  your  warm  clothes.  There !  Now,  I  '11 
come  downstairs  with  you." 

Sarah  was  too  dazed  with  fright  and  sleep 
to  speak.  Miss  Miflin  was  shocked  at  the 
anguish  in  her  face.  She  put  out  her  arms, 
and  for  one  blessed  moment  Sarah  felt  the 
close  pressure  of  sympathy  and  love. 


78      WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE   DAY 

"  There,  Sarah,  dear !  I  '11  look  after  the 
twins  and  the  house,  and  to-morrow  you  must 
tell  me  everything,  Sarah." 

Miss  Miflin  opened  the  door,  and  told  Un- 
cle Daniel  who  she  was,  and  Sarah  went  out. 
With  confidence  which  touched  even  Uncle 
Daniel  himself,  she  put  her  hand  in  his. 

"  Come,  let  us  hurry,"  she  whispered. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  BLOW  FALLS 

SARAH  never  forgot  the  wet,  cold  walk 
across  the  fields.  The  stars  were  out,  and 
there  was  promise  of  a  clear  day,  but  the 
melted  snow  made  the  soil  wet  and  muddy, 
and  the  air  was  damp.  Uncle  Daniel  strode 
on,  without  remembering  to  moderate  his 
long  steps,  and  Sarah  almost  ran  by  his  side. 

She  was  wide  awake  now,  the  cool  air  on 
her  face  banished  all  drowsiness  of  body, 
and  Albert's  danger  roused  every  faculty  of 
her  mind. 

"  How  long  was  he  sick  already  ?  "  she 
asked. 

"  Since  this  morning.  But  he  has  been  for 
a  couple  of  days  not  so  good." 

"Where  is  he  sick?" 

"He  won't   eat  nothing,  and  —  and   he 


80      WHEN  SARAH   SAVED  THE  DAY 

don't  know  us.  He — he  —  "  Uncle  Daniel's 
voice  shook.  He  had  had  a  hard  day.  He 
was  desperately  frightened  about  Albert, 
and  Aunt  'Liza  had  not  made  him  more  com- 
fortable by  insisting  that  it  was  a  punishment 
for  wanting  his  sister's  farm. 

"  He  will  know  me/'  answered  Sarah  with 
conviction.  Then  she  began  to  run  up  the 
lane  toward  the  house.  She  could  see  a  light 
in  an  upstairs  room,  and  Aunt  Eliza's  face 
was  already  peering  anxiously  out  of  the 
kitchen  door. 

"  Albert  is  worse,"  she  called.  "  He  is 
talking  all  the  time." 

Sarah  pushed  past  her  into  the  kitchen. 
She  had  not  been  in  the  house  since  she  was 
a  little  girl,  —  so  entirely  apart  had  been  the 
lives  of  the  two  families,  —  but  she  knew  the 
way  to  the  stairway  door.  One  after  another 
the  natural  ills  of  childhood  came  to  her 
mind.  Albert  and  the  twins  had  had  chicken- 
pox  and  measles  and  whooping-cough  and 
mumps,  and  she  had  nursed  them  all.  She 


THE  BLOW  FALLS  81 

thought  of  the  dreaded  scarlet  fever  and 
diphtheria.  But  there  was  none  in  the  neigh- 
borhood. 

She  hurried  up  the  stairway,  as  there 
floated  down  a  tiny,  querulous  voice, — 

"  I  want  my  Sarah  !  I  want  my  Sarah  ! " 

Albert  lay  deep  in  the  great  feather-bed, 
his  cheeks  a  flaming  crimson,  his  arms  toss- 
ing restlessly.  Even  when  Sarah  bent  over 
him,  he  did  not  know  her,  but  kept  on  with 
his  restless  crying.  She  put  her  hand  on  his 
hot  forehead,  she  opened  the  collar  of  his 
night-gown. 

When  Aunt  Eliza  and  Uncle  Daniel  came 
into  the  room,  she  turned  upon  them  a  look 
of  such  anguish  that  Aunt  'Liza  began  to 
cry,  and  Uncle  Daniel  sat  down  weakly  in  a 
chair. 

"Is  it  the  smallpox?"  asked  Aunt  'Liza 
fearfully. 

Sarah  did  not  answer.  She  looked  at 
Albert  once  more.  Long  before,  when  her 
mother  was  living,  the  twins  had  found  the 


82      WHEN  SARAH   SAVED  THE  DAY 

Christmas  candy,  and  had  eaten  it  all  in  a  day. 
Then  the  twins  had  had  a  sorry  time.  They 
had  looked  just  like  this. 

"  What  did  you  give  Albert  to  eat?"  she 
demanded. 

"  Ach  !  bread  and  meat  and  potatoes  and 
pie,  like  always,  and — " 

"And  what?"  insisted  Sarah. 

"  And  a  few  crullers." 

"And  what  yet?" 

"And  a  little  candy." 

"  How  much  candy  ?  " 

"Ach,  such  a  little  bag  full." 

"And  what  yet?" 

"  A  few  peanuts,"  answered  Uncle  Daniel 
doggedly. 

"  Get  me  warm  water  and  mustard,"  com- 
manded Sarah. 

"C-can  you  make  him  well,  Sarah?" 
faltered  Aunt  'Liza.  But  she  did  not  stop 
to  hear  the  answer.  At  that  moment  she  did 
not  even  feel  the  humiliation  of  having  to 
obey  fifteen-year-old  Sarah. 


THE  BLOW  FALLS  83 

In  less  than  an  hour,  a  watcher  might 
have  seen  the  lights  in  the  Swartz  farmhouse 
go  out,  one  by  one.  Albert  was  asleep  long 
before  that,  the  flush  faded  from  his  cheek, 
the  fever  gone,  a  faint  smile  upon  the  little 
face  on  Sarah's  arm.  It  would  have  been 
hard  to  tell  which  slept  more  soundly,  doctor 
or  patient. 

In  the  next  room  Daniel  Swartz  lay  wide 
awake.  These  weeks  of  Albert's  stay  with 
them  had  not  been  easy.  It  was  not  entirely 
pie  and  cake  and  candy  which  had  made 
Albert  sick ;  it  was  a  disease  which  no  he- 
roic measures  could  cure,  homesickness,  and 
Uncle  Daniel  knew  it. 

"  I  never  saw  such  a  young  one,"  he  said 
angrily.  "  I  was  never  so  very  for  my  brothers 
and  sisters  when  I  was  little." 

"  Will  you  let  him  go  home  ? "  asked 
Aunt  'Liza  timidly.  The  last  weeks  had  worn 
more  heavily  upon  her  than  upon  her  hus- 
band, since  she  had  to  watch  all  day  long  that 
white,  woe-begone  little  face. 


84      WHEN  SARAH   SAVED  THE  DAY 

"  Let  him  go  home !  "  repeated  Swartz. 
"  When  I  am  to  be  guardian  to-morrow !  I 
guess  not.  To-morrow  Sarah  has  to  come 
here.  That  will  cure  him." 

It  was  long  after  daybreak  when  Sarah 
woke.  Albert  slept  quietly  beside  her,  and  it 
was  not  likely  that  he  would  wake  for  several 
hours.  She  dressed  hurriedly  and  went  down- 
stairs. 

There  she  found  Aunt  'Liza  washing  dishes 
and  Uncle  Daniel  moving  impatiently  about, 
dressed  in  his  best  clothes. 

"  I  did  n't  go  yet  to  town,  because  I  want 
to  talk  to  you  a  little,  Sarah,"  he  began. 
"  Sit  down  once  and  Aunt  'Lizie  will  give 
you  your  breakfast." 

"  But  I  must  go  home,"  objected  Sarah. 
"Albert  will  be  all  right,  only  he  must 
not  have  anything  to  eat  yet  awhile,  only 
milk  to  drink.  And  he  must  n't  have  candy, 
or  he  will  get  just  so  sick  for  you  again.  He 
is  too  little  to  have  so  much  candy." 

"  But  you  stay  here  now  and  take  care  of 


THE  BLOW  FALLS  85 

him/'  invited  Uncle  Daniel  pleasantly.  Now 
that  he  had  everything  in  his  hands  he  was 
prepared  to  be  thoroughly  amiable. 

"I  can  come  back/'  replied  Sarah.  His 
good  humor  frightened  her,  and  she  moved 
a  little  closer  to  the  door.  "But  first  I 
must  go  and  milk.  It  is  already  late  to 
milk." 

"Jacob  Kalb's  wife  went  down  this  long 
time  to  milk,"  put  in  Aunt  'Liza. 

"  Jacob  Kalb's  wife  ! "  repeated  Sarah. 

"  Yes." 

"  Well,  I  '11  go  down  and  she  can  go  home," 
said  Sarah.  "I —  I  don't  need  Jacob  Kalb's 
wife  to  help.  Then  I  can  come  back  to  see 
Albert." 

She  remembered  afterwards  that  Aunt 
'Liza  had  begun  to  speak,  and  that  she  had 
been  sharply  checked  by  Uncle  Daniel.  But 
she  did  not  wait  to  hear.  Jacob  Kalb's  wife 
was  only  a  shade  less  disagreeable  than  Ja- 
cob himself.  She  could  not  bear  to  think  of 
her  touching  her  milk-pans  or  going  into  the 


86     WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE   DAY 

spring-house  or  kitchen.  She  ran  as  swiftly 
as  she  could  down  across  the  fields. 

When  she  reached  the  kitchen  door,  she 
was  faint  with  exhaustion.  At  first  every- 
thing was  black  before  her.  Then  she  saw 
Jacob  Kalb's  wife  standing  by  the  stove.  She 
was  a  large,  fair-haired  woman,  with  strong, 
bare  arms.  She  had  just  lifted  a  pie  from  the 
oven  and  stood  with  it  still  in  her  hands, 
looking  at  little  Sarah. 

"I  —  I  —  you  need  n't  bake  for  me,"  said 
Sarah  when  she  could  get  her  breath.  "  I  am 
much  obliged  that  you  did  the  milking,  but 
you  need  not  bake  for  me." 

"  I  am  baking  for  myself,"  answered  Mrs. 
Kalb  stolidly. 

"  Well,  you  need  n't  bake  here"  cried 
Sarah. 

Suddenly  there  came  a  rush  of  comprehen- 
sion. It  seemed  for  an  instant  as  though  she 
could  neither  breathe  nor  think.  Her  uncle 
had  made  Albert  sick,  he  had  sent  for  her  to 
cure  him,  and  then  he  had  sent  this  woman 


THE  BLOW  FALLS  87 

down  here  to  take  possession.  She  moved  a 
step  closer. 

"  Go  out  of  my  kitchen,"  she  commanded 
thickly.  "  This  is  my  kitchen,  it  is  n't  yours. 
These  are  my  things,  they  are  not  yours. 
They  are  not  my  uncle's.  He  had  no  right 
to  send  you  here.  You  could  be  arrested  for 
it.  It  is  stealing.  Get  out  of  my  kitchen." 

Suddenly  everything  seemed  to  grow  black 
once  more,  and  Sarah  reeled.  The  woman 
came  toward  her. 

"  Are  you  sick  ?  You  better  sit  down  once. 
It  is  n't  my  fault  that  I  have  to  live  here.  If 
I  don't  live  here,  somebody  else  will.  Let 
me  take  off  your  shawl  for  you." 

"  Ach,  no  ! "  cried  little  Sarah.  "  Don't 
touch  me  !  Don't  touch  me ! " 

"I  guess  I  won't  do  you  any  thing  if  I  touch 
you,"  answered  the  woman,  the  kindness  in 
her  voice  changing  to  irritation.  "  Well,  what 
in  the  world  —  " 

Sarah  had  gone,  leaving  the  door  open  be- 
hind her.  Mrs.  Kalb  watched  her  run  down 


88     WHEN  SARAH   SAVED  THE  DAY 

the  lane,  stopping  occasionally  to  gasp  for 
breath. 

"  Let  her  go  and  talk  to  Swartz,"  muttered 
Mrs.  Kalb  to  herself.  Then  she  went  back 
to  her  work. 

Sarah  did  not  turn  to  go  across  the  fields 
to  the  Swartz  house,  but  went  on  out  to  the 
high-road.  There  she  stood,  looking  about 
her,  bewildered. 

The  blow  had  fallen  at  last.  She  had  ex- 
pected it  hourly,  but  she  had  not  foreseen  such 
heartache  as  this.  She  had  no  home,  and  the 
children  had  no  home,  and  William,  if  he 
came  back,  would  have  no  home.  The  chil- 
dren might  grow  accustomed  to  life  at  Aunt 
Mena's  and  Uncle  Daniel's,  — she  knew  no- 
thing then  of  Albert's  homesickness,  —  but 
it  would  not  be  home.  They  would  grow 
away  from  one  another,  they  would  not  be 
like  the  children  of  one  family. 

She  could  not  cry,  she  was  too  wretched 
for  tears,  she  could  only  stand  there  in  the 
Toad  in  the  sunshine,  trying  to  decide  where 


THE  BLOW  FALLS  89 

she  should  go.  Then  suddenly  there  came  to 
her  the  touch  of  Miss  Miflin's  arms  and  the 
sound  of  Miss  Miflin's  voice. 

"  To-morrow,  you  must  tell  me  every  thing." 

She  did  not  stop  to  listen  to  another  voice, 
which  told  her  that  Miss  Miflin  was  a  stranger 
who  could  not  really  care,  and  who  could  not 
help.  She  started  away,  not  running  now,  — 
she  was  too  tired  for  that,  —  but  walking  as 
fast  as  she  could,  toward  the  Spring  Grove 
Schoolhouse. 

Eecess  had  just  begun,  and  the  children, 
all  but  the  twins,  who  had  been  granted  the 
treasured  privilege  of  cleaning  the  black- 
boards, were  in  the  playground.  They  looked 
up  curiously  as  Sarah  went  by.  The  Wen- 
ners  had  always  been  clannish.  Even  the 
twins  were  happier  playing  by  themselves 
than  with  the  other  children. 

Miss  Miflin  was  shocked  at  the  sight  of 
Sarah's  face.  She  had  not  worried  about  her, 
because  the  woman  who  had  come  to  milk 
had  said  that  Albert  was  better,  and  thaf 


90  WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

Sarah  was  still  asleep.  She  had  made  up  her 
mind  to  go  back  to  the  Wenners'  that  night. 
Perhaps  if  there  were  a  grown  person  in 
the  house  Sarah  would  rest,  and  thus  lose 
some  of  the  weariness  which  showed  so 
plainly  in  her  eyes. 

Now  in  addition  to  the  weariness,  there 
was  distress  such  as  Miss  Miflin  had  never 
seen  on  the  face  of  a  young  person.  She 
went  down  the  aisle  to  meet  her. 

"  Well,  Sarah,"  she  began.  Then  she  put 
out  both  her  arms.  "  Why,  you  poor  little 
girl !  What  is  the  matter  ?  " 

"  Jacob  Kalb  is  living  in  our  house,"  said 
Sarah  hoarsely.  "  We  have  no  home  any 
more.  The  twins  must  go  to  Aunt  Mena, 
and  Albert  to  Uncle  Daniel.  We  have  no 
home  any  more.  He  took  it  away  from  us. 
It  is  not  right." 

Miss  Miflin  helped  Sarah  to  her  own  chair. 
Then  she  took  the  county  paper  from  her 
desk. 

"  Sarah,  I  saw  something  about  you  and 


THE   BLOW   FALLS  91 

Jie  children  in  the  paper  last  week.  Don't 
you  know  your  uncle  is  to  be  your  guard- 
ian?" 

"  Guardian  ?  "  repeated  Sarah. 

"Yes,  here  it  is.  < Daniel  Swartz,  of 
Spring  Grove  township,  has  applied  to  be 
appointed  guardian  of  Sarah,  Ellen  Louisa, 
Louisa  Ellen,  and  Albert  Wenner,  minor 
children  of  Henry  Wenner,  deceased.'  Oh, 
Sarah,  that  means  you  will  have  to  do  as  he 
says ! " 

"  We  would  have  to  do  as  he  says  whether 
he  was  guardian  or  not,"  said  Sarah  dully. 
"  He  wants  to  take  the  farm.  He  has  already 
taken  the  fence  down.  It  is  nothing  to  be 
done."  Then  she  burst  into  tears.  "  If  they 
would  only  give  me  a  chance  once !  If  they 
would  let  me  try,  I  could  show  them  what  I 
could  do.  I  know  how  the  crops  should  be, 
and  Ebert  would  work  for  the  half,  now  like 
always.  It  would  be  just  like  when  my  pop 
was  alive.  Or  if  Uncle  Daniel  would  farm 
and  give  us  the  half,  like  Ebert,  so  we  could 


92  WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

get  along.  Then  we  could  stay  together. 
But  now  we  have  nothing.  If  William  comes 
home,  he  won't  have  any  place  to  go.  He 
won't—" 

"Listen  a  minute,  Sarah!"  said  Miss 
Miflin.  Then  she  did  not  go  on  at  once,  but 
turned  over  the  paper  with  hands  which 
trembled. 

"  Who  makes  him  guardian  ? "  asked 
Sarah. 

"  The  judge,"  replied  Miss  Miflin  absently. 

"  If  I  only  could  —  " 

"Wait  a  minute,"  said  Miss  Miflin  again. 
"  It  may  not  have  been  decided  yet.  Perhaps 
if  we  went  in,  they  would  let  us  talk. 
Perhaps  —  " 

Her  hand  went  out  suddenly  to  the  bell- 
rope. 

"  There  is  a  train  in  half  an  hour.  We 
shall  have  to  hurry.  Come,  children,  get 
your  caps  and  shawls.  There  will  be  no  more 
school  till  to-morrow." 

Sarah  looked  at  her  dully.    She  had  no 


THE  BLOW  FALLS  93 

idea  of  what  Miss  Miflin  meant  to  do.  The 
children  vanished  with  whoops  of  delight 
over  the  unexpected  holiday. 

"Now,  Sarah,  we  are  going  to  town." 

"  To  town !  To  the  county  seat  ?  " 

"Yes." 

"  But  —  but  I  have  no  money  ! " 

"  Well,  I  have." 

"  But  I  —  I  cannot  leave  the  twins ! " 

"They  are  to  come  too." 

"In  these  clothes?"  Sarah  had  never 
been  to  the  county  seat  but  once,  and  then 
she  had  worn  her  best. 

"  Yes.  There  is  n't  time  to  get  any  others." 

While  Miss  Miflin  spoke,  she  locked  the 
door  of  the  schoolhouse,  and  took  Sarah's 
arm  in  hers.  Her  cheeks  were  flushed,  and 
she  looked  anxious  and  worried.  She  was  per- 
fectly aware  that  it  was  probably  a  fruitless 
errand  upon  which  she  was  starting.  Before 
they  could  get  to  the  county  seat,  the  appoint- 
ment might  be  made.  And  even  if  they  did 
get  there  in  time,  she  was  not  sure  whether 


94     WHEN  SARAH   SAVED  THE  DAY 

anything  could  be  done.  If  they  failed,  it 
might  not  only  make  it  harder  for  the  chil- 
dren, but  she  might  lose  her  school.  Daniel 
Swartz  was  a  man  of  influence  and  a  school' 
director,  and  he  could  easily  prevent  her  re- 
election if  he  tried. 

Nevertheless,  in  spite  of  all  the  dictates  of 
reason  and  common  sense,  Miss  Miflin  had 
an  inward  conviction  that  she  was  right.  She 
knew  vaguely  that  there  had  been  some 
trouble  between  the  Swartz  and  Wenner  fam- 
ilies, and  that  Henry  Wenner  would  never 
have  chosen  his  brother-in-law  to  be  guardian 
of  his  children.  Surely  that  would  have  some 
weight  with  the  judge  ! 

If  Sarah  could  only  be  led  to  talk,  if  she 
could  make  the  judge  believe  that  she  was 
able  to  run  the  farm  and  look  after  the  chil- 
dren, he  might,  as  Sarah  had  said,  be  willing 
to  "  let  her  try."  And  deep  in  Miss  Miflin's 
heart  was  the  remembrance  of  Sarah's  an- 
guished cry,  "If  William  comes  home,  he 
won't  have  any  place  to  go." 


THE  STATION  AGENT  LOOKED  AT  THEM  CURIOUSLY 


THE  BLOW  FALLS  95 

If  William  came  home  !  Miss  Miflin  sighed 
for  some  of  the  childish  affection  which  fol- 
lowed thoughtless,  wandering  William.  Sup- 
pose that  he  should  come  home,  ill,  penniless,, 
where  would  he  go  ?  Miss  Miflin  drew  Sarah's 
hand  a  little  closer  within  her  arm. 

"  Cheer  up,  Sarah,"  she  said.  "  We  '11  win." 

Even  the  station  agent,  accustomed  to  pro- 
vincial costumes,  looked  at  them  curiously  as 
they  got  on  the  train.  Miss  Miflin  wore  her 
school  suit  and  hat,  —  no  one  could  have 
found  fault  with  them  upon  the  grounds  of 
suitability  or  becomingness.  But  Sarah  and 
the  twins,  in  their  striped  shawls  and  sun- 
bonnets,  were  very  unlike  what  one  would 
have  expected  Miss  Miflin's  companions  to 
be. 

There  was  no  doubt  that  they  were  her  com- 
panions, however,  for  she  asked  the  conduc- 
tor to  reverse  a  seat,  and  with  Sarah  beside 
her,  and  the  eager,  restless  twins  opposite, 
she  was  as  oblivious  of  the  interested  stares 
of  the  passengers  as  though  she  were  in  her 


96  WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

own  class-room  at  Spring  Grove.  The  twins 
were  wild  with  delight  at  the  journey.  Here 
was  another  adventure,  more  exciting  than 
running  away  from  Aunt  Mena,  or  carrying 
a  gun  to  school. 

Meanwhile,  with  an  hour's  start,  and 
behind  Betty,  the  fast  little  mare,  Uncle  Dan- 
iel and  Jacob  Kalb  were  just  finishing  the 
twelve-mile  journey  to  the  county  seat. 


CHAPTER  VI 
THE  ORPHANS'  COURT 

THE  curious  eyes  which  watched  Miss  Miflin 
and  the  children  on  the  train  were  multiplied 
tenfold  when  they  found  themselves  on  the 
streets  of  the  county  seat.  Miss  Miflin  was 
pretty  enough  to  attract  attention  anywhere, 
but  she  had  never  before  been  so  frankly  stared 
at.  She  was  well  aware  that  the  children  in  their 
striped  shawls  and  little  sunbonnets  and  gray 
home-knit  stockings  looked  strange  in  a 
town  where  for  twenty  years  little  girls  had 
been  wearing  coats  and  hats. 

"  Is  it  a  show  ?  "  she  heard  one  impertinent 
boy  ask  another. 

"  See  here,  once/'  a  man  exclaimed. 
"  That 's  the  way  the  little  girls  looked  when 
I  was  a  boy." 

Miss  Miflin  was  the  only  member  of  her 


98      WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE   DAY 

party  who  was  at  all  disturbed  by  the  in- 
terested residents  of  the  county  seat.  The 
tired  look  was  gone  from  Sarah's  face,  her 
eyes  sparkled ;  for  a  few  minutes,  in  her  de- 
light over  the  strange  sights,  she  forgot  her 
anxiety  and  fear.  Here  were  the  wonderful 
"  electricity  cars/'  which  frightened  the  twins 
nearly  out  of  their  wits. 

"  Where  are  then  the  horses  ?  "  they  de- 
manded together.  "  What  makes  it  go  ?  Will 
it  come  after  us  ?  " 

The  twins  held  each  other  tightly  by  the 
hand,  their  desire  to  run  ahead  and  their 
fear  of  becoming  separated  from  Miss  Miflin 
making  their  gait  very  uncertain.  Once  she 
and  Sarah  almost  stumbled  over  them,  when 
they  stopped  short  to  contemplate  the  won- 
ders of  the  tall  Powers  Building,  in  course 
of  erection  on  the  other  side  of  the  street. 

Miss  Miflin  was  not  sorry  when  the  gray 
walls  of  the  court  house  appeared  before  them. 
She  would  be  glad  to  get  her  charges  safely 
within  doors. 


THE  ORPHANS'  COURT  99 

The  twins,  however,  had  stopped  again. 
They  had  loosened  their  grasp  on  each  other, 
and  were  standing  with  clasped  hands  and 
rapturous  gaze. 

"What  is  it?  "asked  Miss  Miflin.  Then 
she  followed  their  glance  to  a  little  peanut 
and  candy  stand  near  by. 

"  Peanuts  ! "  said  Louisa  Ellen  rapturously- 

"  Candy  !  "  said  Ellen  Louisa. 

There  was  a  shocked  "  Ach,  are  n't  you 
ashamed ! "  from  Sarah,  and  a  laugh  from 
Miss  Miflin. 

"  Wait  till  we  go  home,"  she  said. 

Then,  together,  she  and  Sarah  pushed  open 
the  heavy  door  of  the  court  house. 

They  found  themselves  in  a  great,  empty 
hall,  with  many  doors  on  each  side.  The  twins, 
after  a  moment's  silent  contemplation,  tried 
to  puzzle  out  the  signs  above  the  doors. 
"Clerk  of  the  Court"  was  easy.  "District 
Attorney  "  and  "  Prothonotary  "  were  harder. 

"  Are  we  going  to  one  of  those  places  ?  " 
whispered  Louisa  Ellen.  They  had  never 


100    WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

been  to  a  circus,  but  they  were  feeling  the 
same  pleasant  thrills  that  a  small  boy  would 
feel  at  sight  of  the  closed  tents. 

"  I  don't  know/'  answered  Miss  Miflin, 
more  to  herself  than  to  them.   "We  must 


see  some  one." 


"  Could  I  go  and  ask  ?  "  inquired  Sarah. 

"No,"  answered  Miss  Miflin.  "Are  you 
afraid  to  wait  here  a  minute  with  the  twins, 
while  I  see  what  I  can  do  ?  " 

At  that  moment  a  door  at  the  upper  end 
of  the  hall  opened,  and  a  tall  gentleman 
came  toward  them.  At  sight  of  them  his  step 
slackened,  and  he  looked  at  them  curiously. 
He,  too,  remembered  the  little  Pennsylvania 
German  schoolhouse  to  which  he  had  gone 
as  a  small  boy.  He  did  not  wait  for  Miss 
Miflin  to  speak  to  him. 

"  Is  there  anything  I  can  do  for  you  ?  " 
he  asked  courteously. 

Miss  Miflin  looked  up  into  the  kindly  face. 

"  Why,  yes.  But  it  would  take  a  few  min- 
utes to  explain,  and  I  don't  like  to  keep  you.* 


THE  ORPHANS'  COURT  101 

"Oh,  I  shall  be  glad  to  help.  Only  —  " 
The  gentleman  looked  back  over  his  shouk        >•,  ;; 
der.  The  door  of  the  prothonotatyV  'tifficfe 
had  opened.  In  a  moment  two  ftr  tly?ee  iicfe , }  ';*',  !'»', 
young  clerks  would  be  in  the  hall,  curious 
to  see  the  girl  whose  voice  they  heard.  He 
opened  the  nearest  door,  and  stepped  back 
for   Miss   Miflin   and   the   twins  to   enter. 
"  Come  in  here,"  he  said. 

The  little  room  into  which  they  went  was 
stiffly  furnished  in  the  fashion  of  fifty  years 
ago,  as  an  ante-room  to  the  judge's  private 
office.  It  was  not  often  used ;  the  horsehair- 
covered  chairs,  set  neatly  against  the  wall, 
and  the  dark  heavy  velvet  curtains  were 
unworn.  To  the  twins  it  was  a  marvelously 
beautiful  place.  Miss  Miflin  and  Sarah  saw 
nothing  but  the  kindly  face  which  invited 
them  to  tell  their  story. 

"  These  children  are  orphans,"  Miss  Miflin 
began.  "  Their  father  was  Henry  Wenner  of 
Spring  Grove  township,  who  died  about  a 
month  ago.  He  had  been  an  invalid  for  some 


102     WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

years,  and  Sarah,  the  oldest  girl,  managed 
the  farm." 

»  "-Ebert  ploughed  for  me  and  farmed  for 
the;half$;'  explained  Sarah.  She  had  taken 
her  sunbonnet  off,  and  her  bright  eyes  looked 
first  at  the  stranger,  then  at  Miss  Miflin. 
"  He  would  help  me  yet.  I  could  get  good 
along,  if  they  would  only  leave  me  be." 

"  The  father  made  no  will,  and  no  provi- 
sion for  the  children,  but  it  was  his  wish  that 
they  stay  together." 

"  And  mom  said  always  so  too,"  added 
Sarah. 

"  Are  there  any  relatives  ? "  asked  the 
stranger. 

"Yes,  their  mother's  brother,  Daniel 
Swartz.  He  lives  on  the  next  farm.  But 
there  was  never  any  friendship  between  the 
two  families  while  these  children's  parents 
lived.  Now  he  has  made  application  to  be  ap- 
pointed guardian,  and  it  does  n't  seem  neces- 
sary or  right  that  he  should  be.  He  —  " 

"  You  see  it  is  this  way,"  said  Sarah.  "  He 


THE  ORPHANS'  COURT  103 

wanted  always  the  farm.  It  was  once  all  my 
gran'pop's  farm.  He  wanted  my  pop  and 
mom  should  move  away  and  sell  it  to  him 
once.  Now  he  won't  have  it  that  we  keep  it 
like  my  pop  said  we  should.  The  twins  shall 
live  by  Aunt  Mena,  and  Albert  and  I  shall 
live  by  him,  and  we  won't  have  no  home  any 
more,  and  —  " 

Miss  Miflin  laid  a  hand  on  Sarah's  knee. 

"  We  did  n't  mean  to  trouble  you  with  all 
this,"  she  said  gently.  "I  just  wanted  to 
know  what  we  should  do,  to  whom  we  should 
go.  I  thought  that  if  Daniel  Swartz  hadn't 
been  made  guardian  yet,  perhaps  there  was 
some  way  of  stopping  it,  and  you  could  tell 
us  to  what  official  we  should  apply." 

"  There  would  have  to  be  a  hearing  before 
the  judge,  and  their  uncle  would  have  to  be 
notified,  so  that  he  could  defend  himself," 
answered  the  gentleman  slowly.  He  looked 
down  once  more  at  Sarah  and  the  twins. 
"  They  are  pretty  young  to  be  looking  after 
themselves,"  he  said. 


104    WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

"  I  am  fifteen  years  old/'  said  Sarah.  "  And 
if  they  would  take  the  farm  and  only  leave 
me  raise  chickens  I  can  get  along." 

The  stranger's  eyes  met  Miss  Miflin's. 

"  She  is  a  very  capable  little  girl,"  said 
Miss  Miflin. 

Then  the  twins,  who  had  marveled  at  the 
"electricity  cars  "  and  the  tall  buildings,  were 
still  further  astonished.  The  gentleman  got 
up  and  crossed  the  room,  and  took  down 
a  little  horn  which  was  hanging  against  the 
wall.  Then  he  began  to  talk.  The  twins' 
mouths  opened  involuntarily. 

"Is  this  the  clerk's  office?  Can  you  get 
Weaver  and  his  client — "  He  turned  to 
Sarah.  "  What  did  you  say  the  uncle's  name 
is  ?  Swartz  ?  Oh  yes  —  Can  you  get  Weaver 
and  Swartz  here  for  a  hearing  this  after- 
noon? They 're  in  the  court-house  now?  Oh, 
very  well.  Yes,  right  away." 

Then  the  stranger  hung  up  the  little  horn 
once  more.  He  smiled  at  Miss  Miflin  and  the 
children. 


THE  ORPHANS'  COURT  105 

u  Would  you  mind  coming  to  tell  the  judge 
what  you  have  told  me  ?  "  he  said. 

"  Will  it  be  in  the  court-room  ?  "  asked 
Miss  Miflin.  She  grew  more  and  more  poign- 
antly conscious  of  the  strangeness  of  her 
errand.  But  this  stranger  was  evidently  ac- 
customed to  court  business  and  he  seemed 
encouraging. 

66  Oh  no.  The  sessions  of  the  Orphans' 
Court  are  held  in  the  judge's  office.  This 
way."  And  he  opened  a  door  leading  into  the 
next  room. 

Miss  Miflin  felt  Sarah's  tight  grasp  on  her 
arm,  and  the  twins  came  close  behind.  This 
room  was  much  larger  than  the  one  they  were 
leaving.  There  was  no  carpet  on  the  floor, 
and  no  attempt  at  elegant  furniture.  At  one 
end  was  a  plain,  businesslike  desk,  and  the 
twenty  or  thirty  chairs  which  stood  about 
the  room  were  straight  and  uncushioned. 

To  Miss  Miflin's  distress,  almost  every  chair 
"Was  occupied.  The  stranger  frowned  a  little 
when  he  saw  the  audience.  It  took  a  verj 


106    WHEN  SARAH   SAVED  THE  DAY 

short  time  for  the  news  of  an  interesting  ease 
to  spread  through  the  court-house. 

But  Miss  Miflin's  surprise  was  nothing  to 
be  compared  to  the  surprise  of  two  of  the  oc- 
cupants of  the  wooden  chairs.  Daniel  Swartz's 
eyes  widened,  and  Jacob  Kalb  nudged  him 
visibly. 

"  It  is  Sarah  and  the  zwillings,"  he  cried. 
"  Sarah  and  the  zwillings  !" 

Uncle  Daniel  had  had  a  moment  of  severe 
fright.  The  lawyer  had  told  him  that  they 
had  only  to  go  to  the  court-house  to  get  the 
papers.  But  his  fright  passed. 

"  Pooh,  what  do  I  care  ?  "  he  said.  "  I  have 
my  lawyer,  and  I  paid  him  twenty-five  dol- 
lars already.  I  am  not  afraid  of  no  zwillings. 
Nor  yet  no  school-teacher/'  he  added  under 
his  breath.  In  Uncle  Daniel's  mind,  the  days 
of  Miss  Miflin  in  the  Spring  Grove  School 
were  numbered. 

But  the  surprises  were  not  yet  over.  The 
tall  gentleman  found  places  for  Miss  Miflin 
tnd  the  children  near  the  desk  at  the  front 


THE  ORPHANS'  COURT  107 

of  the  room.  Sarah  looked  up  at  him  with  a 
mixture  of  gratitude  and  alarm. 

"  Could  n't  you  stay  by  us  ?  "  she  whis- 
pered. 

The  stranger  laughed. 

"  I  'm  not  going  away/'  he  answered.  Then 
to  the  amazement  of  Miss  Miflin  and  Sarah 
and  the  consternation  of  Daniel  Swartz,  he 
took  his  place  behind  the  desk. 

"  They  were  already  by  the  judge  ! "  said 
Uncle  Daniel.  "  It  is  not  fair,  it  —  " 

"  I  'd  advise  you  to  be  quiet/'  said  Mr. 
Weaver  curtly. 

Sarah  seized  Miss  Miflin's  arm. 

"  Was  it  —  was  —  it  him  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  Yes/'  answered  Miss  Miflin.    "  It  was." 

She  saw  the  judge  smiling  at  their  sur- 
prise, and  she  felt  suddenly  that  it  was  all 
less  of  a  wild-goose  chase  than  she  had  feared. 

It  was  comforting,  also,  that  there  was 
about  this  hearing  none  of  the  formality  of 
a  court  trial.  The  judge  wore  no  gown,  there 
was  no  prisoners'  dock,  no  loud-voiced  crier  j 


108    WHEN  SARAH   SAVED  THE  DAY 

it  was  more  like  the  office  of  a  country  squire. 
Miss  Miflin  whispered  to  the  twins  to  take 
off  their  sunbonnets,  and  not  to  speak  unless 
the  judge  spoke  to  them. 

The  clerk  of  the  court  read  Daniel  Swartz's 
application,  and  then  Mr.  Weaver  rose.  He 
had  not  anticipated  any  objections,  and  he 
was  not  in  a  good  humor.  He  felt  that  he 
was  wasting  his  time  over  an  unimportant 
case.  He  said  briefly  that  the  children  had 
no  natural  guardian,  except  their  uncle  Dan- 
iel Swartz,  an  upright,  prosperous  man,  who 
was  willing  to  take  from  his  own  important 
business  the  time  necessary  to  look  after 
their  affairs. 

"  He  is  a  school-director,  a  member  of  the 
Reformed  Church  in  good  standing,  and  a 
prosperous  farmer.  Could  a  more  suitable 
person  be  found  ?  The  oldest  of  the  children 
is  fourteen  —  " 

"  I  am  fifteen,"  said  Sarah. 

The  men  in  the  court-room  smiled,  and  the 
lawyer  went  on  as  though  he  had  not  heard* 


THE  ORPHANS'  COURT  109 

"It  will  be  years  before  she  is  of  age. 
How  can  such  a  child  possibly  look  after  a 
farm  and  bring  up  three  children  ?  They  do 
not  want  a  guardian ;  few  children  would, 
after  having  been  allowed  to  run  loose  for 
years.  But  in  their  own  interest,  and  in 
the  interest  especially  of  these  younger  chil- 
dren, I  ask  that  Daniel  Swartz  be  made 
their  guardian." 

Daniel  Swartz  looked  about  complacently, 
as  if  challenging  those  near  him  to  prove 
that  the  lawyer's  statements  were  untrue. 

"To-morrow  she  loses  her  school,"  he 
said  to  Jacob  Kalb. 

Then  he  saw  that  the  judge  was  speak- 
ing to  Miss  Miflin. 

"  What  is  your  name  ?  " 

«  Helen  Miflin." 

"You  are  a  school-teacher?" 

"I  teach  in  the  Spring  Grove  School- 
house." 

"  What  interest  have  you  in  this  case  ?  " 

The  judge  saw  that  the  flush  on  Miss 


110    WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

Miflin's  cheek  deepened,  but  he  thought  it 
was  only  a  flush  of  embarrassment. 

"  I  am  fond  of  these  children,  and  I  do 
not  believe  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Swartz 
as  guardian  is  necessary  or  right." 

"Why?" 

"  Because  for  years  the  families  have  not 
been  friendly,  and  Mr.  Wenner  would  never 
have  chosen  Mr.  Swartz  as  the  guardian  of 
his  children,  and  because  the  children  do 
not  like  him." 

"  Like  me  !  "  exclaimed  Daniel  Swartz  to 
the  lawyer.  "What  dumb  talk!  It  makes 
nothing  out  if  they  like  me  or  not." 

"  You  will  have  to  be  quiet,"  answered 
Mr.  Weaver.  "  It  makes  a  good  deal  of  dif- 
ference in  the  appointment  of  a  guardian." 

"  Sarah  Wenner,"  said  the  judge. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  answered  Sarah. 

"  Why  don't  you  want  to  live  with  your 
uncle,  and  have  him  look  after  your  af- 
fairs?" 

"Because  my  mom  said  we  should  stay 


THE  ORPHANS'  COURT  111 

always  together.  It  is  not  right  that  chil- 
dren have  no  home  of  their  own.  And  iny 
pop  was  for  three  years  sick,  and  Ebert 
helped  us,  and  we  got  good  along.  He 
worked  for  the  half.  And  I  can  raise  chick- 
ens. And  the  twins  are  always  good  for 
me,  and  Albert  is  always  good  for  me,  and 
Uncle  Daniel,  he  knows  I  can  get  along. 
Albert  is  already  by  him,  and  he  gave  him 
candy  till  he  was  sick  and  I  had  to  go  to 
cure  him.  He  don't  know  how  to  bring  up 
children,  and  Aunt  'Lizie  don't  know.  He  — 
he  is  always  after  us.  And  he  came  for  me 
in  the  night  to  go  to  Albert,  and  when  I  went 
back  in  the  morning  Jacob  Kalb  was  living 
there  already,  and  baking  pies,  and  —  " 

At  thought  of  the  morning,  the  tears 
came  into  Sarah's  eyes,  and  her  voice 
choked.  "  If  he  would  only  Heave  me  be." 

"That  will  do,"  said  the  judge  kindly. 
He  thought  that  he  had  never  seen  the 
court-house  clerks  so  quiet.  "  And  you,"  he 
said  to  the  twins,  "aren't  you  willing  to 


112    WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE   DAY 

be  good  little  girls,  and  do  as  Uncle  Daniel 
wants  you  to  ?  " 

The  twins  looked  up  at  the  judge,  then 
round  the  room.  They  were  frightened  and 
puzzled.  They  thought  this  kindly  gentle- 
man was  on  their  side,  but  he  had  made 
Sarah  cry,  and  now  he  wanted  them  to  obey 
Uncle  Daniel.  Then  Louisa  Ellen  put  out 
her  hand  and  nudged  Ellen  Louisa. 

The  eyes  of  the  judge  and  the  clerks  fol* 
lowed  theirs.  Uncle  Daniel  was  smiling  at 
them  graciously,  —  he  who  usually  frowned 
so  crossly.  And  as  Uncle  Daniel  smiled,  he 
put  his  hand  into  his  pocket  and  drew  out 
two  shining  dollars. 

To  the  court-room  Uncle  Daniel's  pur- 
pose was  evident.  The  court-room  held  its 
breath.  Louisa  Ellen's  hand  tightened  on 
Ellen  Louisa's. 

"  Uncle  Daniel  is  going  to  give  us  a  dol- 
lar ! "  she  said,  in  tones  of  such  wonder  and 
amazement  that  the  court-room  rocked  with 
mirth. 


O 

Q 


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O 

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Q 

3 

P 

g 


THE  ORPHANS'  COURT  113 

"  Order ! "  said  the  judge,  after  a  long 
minute. 

Then  Mr.  Weaver  knew  —  though  Uncle 
Daniel  did  not  as  yet  —  that  his  cause  was 
lost.  Uncle  Daniel  put  the  money  back  into 
his  pocket,  shamefacedly.  This  would  be 
another  score  to  settle  with  the  twins  when 
this  foolish  court  business  was  over.  Then 
he  heard  that  the  judge  was  speaking. 

"  Whom  would  you  like  to  have  for  your 
guardian,  children  ?  " 

Sarah  looked  up  at  Miss  Miflin.  To  her 
the  word  guardian  meant  unpleasant  over- 
sight, interference.  Must  they  have  a  guard- 
ian at  all?  But  Miss  Miflin  did  not  seem 
troubled  in  the  least.  What  she  said  was 
unpremeditated ;  she  did  not  realize  until 
after  the  words  were  out  that  the  lawyer's 
sharp  eyes  and  the  judge's  kindly  eyes 
were  watching  her  so  closely,  nor  could  she 
foresee  that  her  face  would  become  a  flam- 
ing crimson. 

"I  don't  see  why  they  need  a  guardian 


114    WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

at  all,"  she  said.  "They  have  an  older 
brother." 

"  Oh,"  said  the  judge.  "  Why,  then,  was 
the  application  made  ?  " 

At  that  moment  Jacob  Kalb  had  come 
finally  to  the  conclusion  that  he  had  been 
silent  long  enough. 

"He  went  three  years  ago  already  to 
Alaska,"  he  said.  "He  will  never  come 
home." 

"  Oh,  he  will !  "  cried  little  Sarah. 

"  And  if  he  does  come  home,"  went  on 
Jacob  Kalb  coolly,  "what  will  he  have  to 
say  about  the  school-board  money  that  he 
took  along  with  him  to  Alaska  ?  " 

"  Oh,  for  shame !  "  cried  Miss  Miflin. 

"  Yes,"  answered  Jacob.  "  Stealing  is  a 
shame." 

"  He  did  not  steal !  "  Miss  Miflin's  voice 
shook.  She  knew  they  were  watching  her 
curiously ;  she  heard  the  door  open  to  admit 
another  inquisitive  clerk,  who  she  saw  dimly 
was  tall  and  broad  of  shoulder,  but  she  did 


THE  ORPHANS'  COURT  115 

not  care  if  the  whole  world  were  there  to 
hear.  "  His  father  paid  the  money,  and  he 
has  never  had  any  chance  to  defend  him- 
self." 

"  Stealing  is  stealing/'  said  Jacob  Kalb 
doggedly. 


CHAPTER  VII 

"  AND  NOW  WE  WILL  GO  HOME  " 

ON  the  day  upon  which  she  took  possession 
of  the  Wenner  homestead,  Mrs.  Jacob  Kalb 
was  destined  to  have  more  than  one  shock. 
She  let  two  pies  burn  while  she  thought  of 
little  Sarah,  who  looked  so  ill,  and  who  had 
started  away  so  wildly.  She  was  just  about 
to  put  on  her  shawl  and  go  up  to  the  Swartz 
house,  to  ask  whether  Sarah  was  there,  when 
the  door  opened  again. 

This  time  it  was  not  pushed  open  by 
Sarah's  gentle  hand,  but  was  flung  back,  as 
though  the  master  of  the  house  were  about 
to  enter. 

Thinking  it  was  her  husband,  Mrs.  Kalb 
did  not  turn  at  once. 

"  Well,  did  you  get  back  ?"  she  asked. 

Then,  with  her  arms  uplifted  to  the  hook 


AND  NOW  WE  WILL  GO  HOME    117 

where  her  shawl  hung,  she  looked  round 
over  her  shoulder. 

A  tall  young  man  stood,  not  on  the  step, 
where  tramps  and  agents  belonged,  but  in 
the  kitchen  itself,  his  hand  on  Mrs.  Kalb's 
freshly  scrubbed  table. 

"  Get  out  of  my  kitchen,"  she  commanded. 
She  was  afraid  of  no  tramps,  but  there  was 
something  in  the  clear  gaze  of  this  young 
man  which  frightened  her.  But  he  was  clean 
and  sober,  and  he  looked  like  some  one  whom 
she  knew.  "  What  do  you  want  ?"  she  asked 
in  a  more  friendly  tone. 

"  Who  are  you  ?  "  asked  the  stranger. 

"  I  am  Mrs.  Jacob  Kalb,  and  this  is  my 
house." 

"  Where  — "  said  the  young  man,  and 
Mrs.  Kalb  never  told  the  story  afterwards 
without  crying  — "  where  is  my  mother  ?  " 

"  Your  mother !  "  she  repeated.  She  stared 
at  him  with  open  mouth.  Then  she  said 
slowly,  "  It  is  William  Wenner  that  you  look 
like." 


118     WHEN  SAKAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

"  But  where/'  said  the  young  man  again, 
"  is  my  mother  ?  And  my  father  ?  " 

Mrs.  Kalb's  shawl  dropped  slowly  to  the 
ground. 

"  Don't  you  know  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know  anything/'  said  the  young 
man.  "  I  have  been  away  for  three  years.  I 
have  had  no  letters  for  two  years,  until  last 
week.  Then  I  found  one  in  Seattle.  I  — " 
He  drew  Sarah's  poor,  little,  incoherent 
letter  from  his  pocket.  "I  couldn't  make 
out  what  my  little  sister  meant.  She  says 
nothing  about  my  mother  or  my  father." 

Mrs.  Kalb  was  after  all  a  very  different 
person  from  her  husband.  She  came  round 
to  where  the  young  man  was  standing  and 
made  him  sit  down,  and  put  a  kind  hand  on 
his  shoulder,  while  she  told  him. 

"  And  you  came  now  just  in  time,"  she 
sobbed.  "  The  little  ones  shall  go  to  Uncle 
Daniel  and  Aunt  Mena,  and  he  will  take  the 
farm.  The  fences  are  down  already,  and  he 
is  to  be  guardian.  He  went  this  morning  to 


AND  NOW  WE  WILL  GO  HOME    119 

town  to  get  the  papers.  He  and  Jacob  went. 
He  said  we  were  to  live  here.  But  I  would  n't 
V  come,  only  somebody  would  have  to  live 
here,  and  —  " 

The  young  man  was  upon  his  feet. 

"  Where  is  my  little  sister  ?  " 

"By  Aunt  'Liza.  And  Albert  is  there, 
and  Ellie  and  Weezy  are  at  school."  Then 
she  followed  him  to  the  door.  "  I  won't  be 
here  any  more  when  you  come  back.  And  I 
will  have  everything  cleaned  up,  and  I  will 
leave  some  pies." 

If  she  had  doubted  his  identity,  she  would 
have  been  convinced  by  the  quick  turn 
which  he  made  beyond  the  lilac-bushes,  in 
order  to  take  the  shortest  cut  across  the 
fields.  She  saw  him  stop  for  an  instant  to 
stare  at  the  long,  unbroken  slope,  which 
stretched  clear  to  Uncle  Daniel's  door,  then 
he  hurried  on. 

Aunt  Eliza  was  frightened  almost  out  of 
her  wits.  He  did  not  speak  to  her  or  greet  her, 
except  to  say,  "  Where  is  my  little  sister  ?  " 


120    WHEN   SARAH  SAVED  THE   DAY 

"  William! "  screamed  Aunt  'Liza.  " Ach, 
William,  did  you  come  home  ?  " 

"Where  is  my  little  sister?"  He  had 
always  been  fond  of  Aunt  Eliza,  and  she 
had  always  been  kind  to  him.  But  now 
there  was  no  room  in  his  heart  for  any- 
thing but  grief  and  resentment  and  anx- 
iety. 

"  She  is  —  ach,  I  don't  know  where  she  is. 
She  went  this  long  time  home.  But  Jacob 
Kalb  lives  now  at  your  house.  Ellie  and 
Weezy  are  at  school,  perhaps  she  went  to 
them.  She  is  very  for  the  teacher.  Per- 
haps—  Here  is  your  little  brother,  William. 
Here  is  Albert.  He  is — he  is — "  And  Aunt 
'Liza  burst  into  tears. 

William  stooped  to  kiss  him,  his  lips 
trembling. 

"  Where  is  my  uncle  ?  " 

"He  is  gone  to — town,  William.  Ach,  sit 
down  once !" 

"No,"  said  William  curtly.  "I'll  come 
back  after  a  while  for  Albert." 


AND  NOW   WE  WILL  GO  HOME    121 

And  he  was  gone,  his  straight  young 
shoulders  bent. 

He  had  suffered  hardship  and  disappoint- 
ment, but  nothing  had  torn  his  heart  like 
this.  They  must  have  written,  they  could 
not  have  been  so  cruel  as  to  have  forgotten 
him.  It  was  a  common  thing  for  letters  to 
be  lost. 

He  read  Sarah's  letter  once  more  as  he 
strode  along.  She  said  that  Uncle  Daniel 
was  after  them,  and  that  she  had  chased 
Jacob  Kalb  off  with  a  gun.  He  knew  Uncle 
Daniel's  stern  determination  to  have  his  own 
way,  he  knew  how  he  coveted  the  farm,  he 
knew  Jacob's  meanness.  After  that  he  ran 
until  he  came  to  the  schoolhouse  door. 
That,  he  found,  was  closed. 

He  rapped  heavily ;  there  was  no  answer. 
Then  he  looked  in  the  window.  The  room 
was  empty.  As  he  was  turning  away  in  de- 
spair, he  heard  some  one  calling  him. 

"  The  school  is  closed.  It  won't  be  open 
till  to-morrow.  Miss  Miflin  went  away." 


122    WHEN  SARAH   SAVED  THE   DAY 

It  was  the  woman  who  lived  in  the  next 
house.  She  had  been  a  schoolmate  of  his 
when  he  was  a  little  boy. 

"  Miss  Miflin  ?  "  he  repeated  slowly.  "  Is 
she  here  yet?  Don't  you  know  me,  Sallie?" 

" No,"  answered  the  woman.  "I  —  Why, 
William  !  "  She  had  both  his  hands  in  hers, 
and  could  only  stare  at  him  speechlessly. 
"  Why,  William !  What  am  I  so  glad  to  —  " 
Then  she,  too,  began  to  cry.  "  I  can't  help 
it,  William.  I  am  so  sorry  for  you.  I  —  " 

"  Do  you  know  anything  about  my  little 
sister  ?  "  asked  William.  "  They  said  she  had 
come  over  here." 

"  Yes,  and  she  was  crying,  and  she  talked 
to  teacher,  and  they  went  away,  and  Ellie 
and  Weezy.  They  went  to  town.  It  was 
something  about  a  guardian.  I  heard  them 
talking.  But  I  don't  believe  they  could  catch 
the  nine  o'clock  train.  Perhaps  they  are  yet 
at  the  station.  It  is  another  train  at  eleven." 
She  finished  her  sentence  in  a  loud  shriek  as 
William,  after  glancing  at  his  watch,  ran 


AND  NOW  WE  WILL  GO  HOME    123 

down   the   road.    "Come   soon   to   see   us, 
William." 

She  watched  him  until  he  vanished  at  the 
turn  of  the  road,  then  she  ran  out  to  the 
field  to  tell  her  husband. 

Sarah  had  often  pictured  to  herself  what 
she  would  do  when  William  came  home. 
Sometimes  she  seemed  to  see  him  coming  up 
the  lane,  and  herself  flying  down  to  meet 
him.  Sometimes  he  opened  the  door  and 
came  into  the  kitchen  and  surprised  her. 
Sometimes  she  imagined  that  she  would  cry ; 
at  other  times,  after  she  had  been  reading, 
for  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  at  a  time,  "  Thad- 
deus  of  Warsaw,"  the  one  novel  which  the 
Wenners  possessed,  she  was  sure  that  she 
should  faint.  But  in  all  her  imaginings,  she 
never  dreamed  that  she  should  not  know 
him. 

She,  too,  saw  the  tall,  broad-shouldered 
young  man  come  into  the  court-room ;  she 
even  looked  absently  straight  into  his  eyes, 


124    WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE   DAY 

with  her  frightened  stare.  Then  she  looked 
away. 

"Stealing,"  Jacob  Kalb  was  saying,  "is 
stealing." 

The  judge  bent  forward  and  spoke  to 
Jacob  Kalb.  William's  character  was,  after 
all,  not  the  court's  affair.  If  he  had  been 
absent  so  long  in  Alaska,  where  the  chances 
were  one  to  fifty  against  his  life,  he  was 
entirely  negligible  so  far  as  the  guardianship 
of  these  children  was  concerned.  But  the 
sudden  vigor  and  vindictiveness  of  Jacob's 
charge  angered  the  judge.  He  did  not  like 
the  man's  looks,  and  he  did  like  Miss  Miflin 
and  the  quaint  little  Pennsylvania  German 
girls.  He  had  seen  Miss  Miflin  blush  when 
she  mentioned  the  absent  brother. 

"Do  you  mean  that  this  older  brother 
stole?"  he  asked  plainly. 

"  He  took  school-board  money,  and  did  n't 
pay  it  back." 

Miss  Miflin  leaned  forward. 

"He  was  treasurer  of  the  school-board," 


AND  NOW  WE  WILL  GO  HOME    125 

she  said.  "All  his  accounts  were  straight, 
but  his  uncle,  who  succeeded  him,  claimed 
that  forty  dollars  in  cash  was  missing.  His 
father  paid  it,  and  he  has  never  had  a  chance 
to  explain.  He  does  not  even  know  that  his 
father  and  mother  are  dead.  If  he  could — 
I  am  sure  he  would  be  here.  And  his  uncle 
told  people  that  he  had  stolen." 

Her  cheeks  blazed,  her  hands  clasped  and 
unclasped.  Sarah  watched  her  dumbly. 

"  And  you  think  he  is  still  alive  ?  "  asked 
the  judge  kindly. 

"I  don't  know,"  she  said,  with  quivering 
lips. 

"  Do  you  think,"  began  the  judge  again, 
after  a  long  pause.  Then  he  got  no  further. 
Little  Sarah  had  risen  from  her  chair.  Her 
shawl  had  slipped  from  her  shoulders,  she 
looked  with  burning  eyes  across  the  room. 
The  judge  thought  that  she  was  going  to 
fall,  but  she  walked  steadily  across  the  open 
space  between  him  and  the  wide-eyed  clerks, 
toward  the  door. 


126    WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

"  Sarah !  "  called  Miss  Miflin  gently. 

But  Sarah  did  not  stop.  It  was  the  judge 
who  saw  the  stranger  first,  and  who  guessed 
the  truth.  Like  a  bird  to  its  nest,  she  went, 
and  a  strong  arm  gathered  her  straight 
against  the  stranger's  heart.  Sarah  did  not 
speak,  she  only  hid  her  eyes  against  the 
stranger's  side. 

The  judge  meant  to  look  back  at  Miss 
Miflin,  and  then  he  meant  to  dismiss  the 
court  at  once  and  banish  all  these  imperti- 
nent young  clerks,  and  then  he  wanted  to 
talk  to  William.  But  his  gaze  stopped  with 
Daniel  Swartz. 

Daniel's  embarrassment  at  having  been 
caught  trying  to  bribe  the  twins  had  changed 
to  a  more  poignant  emotion.  He  looked 
frightened.  The  stranger's  eyes  were  upon 
him,  also. 

"  I  am  William  Wenner,"  said  the  young 
man.  "  I  have  just  come  home.  I  did  not 
know  that  my  father  and  mother  were  dead, 
or  that  my  little  sister  was  in  —  in  —  such 


AND  NOW  WE  WILL  GO  HOME    127 

trouble.  I  wish  that  Jacob  Kalb  would  say 
again  what  he  said." 

Jacob  Kalb  lifted  a  determined  face. 

"  I  said  that  when  you  went  away  you 
did  n't  pay  back  all  the  school-board  money, 
and  your  pop  had  to  pay  it,  and  you  were  n't 
fit  to  be  guardian  of  Sarah  and  Albert  and 
the  zwillings, —  that  is  what  I  said." 

He  did  not  heed  the  frantic  nudging  of 
his  master.  He  saw  the  Wenner  house,  which 
he  had  so  long  coveted,  slipping  from  his 
grasp. 

"Uncle  Daniel  — "  It  was  a  moment 
before  Uncle  Daniel  looked  up.  "Is  this 
true?" 

"Well,"  began  Uncle  Daniel,  in  confusion. 
"  It  was  this  way  —  " 

"  Is  it  true  ?  "  asked  William  again. 

Now  it  was  Jacob  Kalb  who  nudged  and 
Uncle  Daniel  who  paid  no  heed.  He  would 
take  advantage  of  any  means  to  advance  on 
the  path  which  he  had  set  out  for  himself, 
he  could  even  deceive  himself  into  believing 


128     WHEN   SARAH  SAVED  THE   DAY 

that  he  had  done  his  best  for  the  children, 
he  could  cheat  and  slander  the  absent,  but 
here  in  the  court-house,  in  the  presence  of 
the  judge,  he  could  not  lie. 

"  No,"  he  answered.  He  looked  like  an 
old  man. 

"  Why  did  you  accuse  this  young  man 
falsely?  "  asked  the  judge. 

Uncle  Daniel  got  upon  his  feet. 

"  I  think  I  will  go  home,"  he  said. 
"  William  can  be  guardian  if  he  wants  to." 

"  No,"  said  the  judge.  "  You  will  not  go 
home.  You  will  answer  my  question.  Did 
this  young  man  owe  the  school-board  forty 
dollars?" 

"Yes." 

"  Did  he  pay  it  to  the  school-board? " 

"  No." 

"I  have  your  receipt,"  said  William. 
"  And  Jacob  Kalb  was  present  when  it  was 
paid." 

"  It  ain't  so,"  muttered  Jacob  Kalb. 

Then  Uncle  Daniel's  rage  broke  forth. 


AND  NOW  WE  WILL  GO  HOME    129 

"He  did  give  me  forty  dollars,"  he  shouted. 
"  But  he  owed  it  to  me  before  he  owed  it  to 
the  school-board,  for  all  the  things  I  bought 
him  already.  A  couple  of  suits  and  hats  and 
candy  and  such  a  little  velocipede  and  pea- 
nuts, and  I  took  him  in  the  Fair  ;  and  then  he 
was  n't  thankful.  He  would  n't  be  adopted. 


"  So  he  paid  you  the  forty  dollars  ?  " 

"Yes.  But  it  was  mine."  Then  Uncle 
Daniel  read  in  the  faces  of  those  about  him 
the  first  frank  estimate  of  his  character  which 
it  had  ever  been  his  misfortune  to  see. 

"  I  think  I  will  go  home,"  he  said  again. 

"  Not  yet,"  replied  the  judge  grimly.  He 
looked  at  William.  "  Do  you  want  to  prose- 
cute this  gentleman  ?  " 

"No,"  answered  William. 

The  judge  saw  that  his  lips  were  trem- 
bling. 

"  The  court  is  adjourned,"  he  said. 

Then  he  changed  his  mind  about  linger- 
ing to  talk  to  William.  He  opened  the  door 


130    WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

into  the  ante-room,  and  shook  hands  with 
them  all. 

"  Make  yourselves  at  home,  and  stay  as 
long  as  you  like.  I  'm  coming  out  to  Spring 
Grove  to  see  you.  And  if  you  ever  need  a 
friend,  I'll  do  my  best  to  help  you.  And 
if — "  he  looked  smilingly  at  William  and  Miss 
Miflin,  then  he  concluded  that  this  was  not 
a  time  for  joking.  "  God  bless  you,"  he  said, 
and  was  gone. 

It  was  not  until  then  that  Sarah  felt  the 
arm  round  her  loosen  its  hold. 

"  He  has  Albert  yet,"  she  said.  "  I  am 
afraid  he  will  do  him  something." 

Whereupon  the  arm  tightened  its  grasp 
once  more,  and  William  had  only  one  hand 
to  hold  out  to  the  amazed  and  delighted  twins. 

"Albert  is  all  right,"  he  said.  "And 
you're  not  to  worry  about  anything,  ever." 

"And  if  it  hadn't  been  for  teacher  — " 
began  Sarah. 

"  I  know,"  said  William.  "  And  now  we 
will  go  home." 


AND  NOW  WE  WILL  GO  HOME    131 

"  Home !  "  The  word  was  like  a  burst  of 
song.  And  only  a  few  hours  before  she  had 
thought  they  would  have  no  home.  She  took 
a  twin  by  either  hand.  "  Come !  " 

But  the  twins  drew  back. 

"  We  are  going  to  walk  by  William,"  they 
said  together. 

"  All  right/'  consented  Sarah. 

She  and  Miss  Miflin  led  the  way  down  the 
broad  steps,  and  William  and  the  twins  came 
behind.  They  gazed  at  him  rapturously, 
realizing  that  he  was  as  wonderful  as  their 
vague  remembrance  pictured  him. 

"  He  is  going,"  said  Louisa  Ellen,  when 
he  drew  his  hand  away, "  to  buy  us  candy !  " 

Fortunately  it  was  to  Sarah  that  he  handed 
the  bag,  and  it  was  with  Sarah  that  the 
twins  were  anxious  to  sit  when  they  got  into 
the  train.  It  was  a  little  trying  that  she 
would  let  them  have  only  two  chocolate 
drops  apiece  until  they  got  home. 

She  looked  back  once  at  William  and 
Miss  Miflin,  who  were  not  talking  to  each 


132    WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

other,  but  who  smiled  at  her.  There  was 
something  in  their  faces  which  made  her 
heart  beat. 

"I  wonder  —  "  she  said  softly  to  herself; 
then  she  did  not  finish  the  sentence* 

"  Oh,  I  am  going  to  cook  such  a  supper !  " 
she  said  to  the  approving  twins.  "First  I 
will  fetch  Albert  and  then  I  will  cook." 

But  Albert  did  not  need  to  be  fetched. 
When  they  opened  the  kitchen  door,  he  ran 
to  meet  them. 

"  Aunt  'Liza  fetched  me  home,"  he  cried, 
"  I  am  never  going  away." 

There  was  the  gentle  closing  of  a  door, 
and  a  rustle  of  skirts,  but  Sarah  did  not  hear. 
Then  she  sniffed  the  air. 

"  I  smell  baked  things,"  she  said.  Before 
she  finished,  the  twins  were  opening  the 
pantry  door. 

"  Look  here  once ! "  cried  Louisa  Ellen. 

"  Aunt  'Liza's  crullers ! "  said  Sarah. 
"And  Aunt  Mena's  chocolate  cake,  five 
layers,  and  bread  and  pies,  and  it  is  chicken 


AND  NOW  WE  WILL  GO  HOME    133 

cooking  on  the  stove,  and  I  will  make  waffles 
yet,  and  —  " 

William  caught  her  by  the  shoulders  as 
she  hurried  from  cupboard  to  stove. 

"  Here,  youngster,  not  so  fast !  "  This 
was  William,  indeed,  with  all  William's  dear, 
teasing,  familiar  ways !  He  looked  at  Miss 
Miflin,  and  his  voice  shook.  "  She  is  just 
like  my  mother.  She  —  "  But  he  could  not 
go  on.  Instead  he  stooped  and  kissed  Sarah. 

It  was  not  until  after  supper  that  there 
was  time  to  talk;  and  then  there  was  so 
much  to  be  said,  that  they  sat  at  first 
silently,  except  the  twins,  who,  seated  on 
the  settle  with  Albert  between  them,  were 
telling  a  fantastic  tale  of  the  day's  adven- 
tures. Sarah  could  hardly  speak  for  happi- 
ness. It  seemed  best  to  be  quiet,  and  think, 
and  try  to  realize  that  they  were  all  safe  and 
happy  once  more. 

When  William  took  Miss  Miflin  home, 
Sarah  put  Albert  and  the  twins  to  bed,  and 
told  them  all  a  story ;  then  she  went  down- 


134    WHEN  SARAH  SAVED  THE  DAY 

stairs  to  wait  until  William  came  back. 
Even  then  she  must  be  busy.  She  took  up 
the  sewing  which  she  had  laid  down  the  day 
Albert  was  taken  away.  It  was  finished  by 
the  time  that  William  opened  the  door. 

He  drew  a  chair  up  beside  hers. 

"  Sarah/'  he  said,  "  if  a  fairy  came  and 
told  you  that  you  might  have  anything  in 
the  world  you  wanted,  what  would  you 
choose  ? " 

"  I  don't  want  anything  but  to  stay  here," 
said  Sarah. 

"  Not  if  she  said  you  might  go  to  school?  " 

"To  school? "gasped  Sarah.  "Ach,  but 
I  am  going  to  stay  here  and  keep  the  house, 
so  that  when  you  come  home  again  —  " 

Sarah  was  sure  that  William  would  not 
stay  in  Spring  Grove. 

"  Come  home  ?  "  repeated  William.  "  But 
I  am  going  to  stay  home.  I  am  going  to  stay 
here  and  farm,  and  the  trolley  is  coming 
almost  to  the  door,  and  —  " 

The  slender  tower  of  the  main  building  of 


AND  NOW  WE  WILL  GO  HOME    135 

the  "  Normal "  came  back  into  Sarah's  field 
of  vision. 

"  Ach  !  "  she  cried.  "  Perhaps  I  could  go 
to  the  school,  and  ride  on  the  trolley  back 
and  forth,  and  keep  house  yet,  and  —  " 

William  laughed. 

"You  shall  go  on  the  trolley  back  and 
forth,  all  right,  little  Dutchman/'  he  said. 
"  But  you  shall  not  keep  house,  yet." 

"  But  who  will  keep  house  ?  It  is  always 
so  many  things  to  do  !  " 

"  What  would  you  think  of  teacher  for 
a  housekeeper  ?  " 

"  Teacher ! "  cried  Sarah.  "  Miss  Miflin?" 

"Yes." 

"  Would  teacher  stay  here  with  us  ?  " 

"She  says  so,"  answered  William  gravelyc 


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